Salvation

From Campaign's Beginnings to the Current Situation

16 Brownleaf 6934 EY: Our story has inauspicious beginnings. The four heroes of this tale found themselves, for one reason or another, as initiates of the Hunter's Take in Dunezar. This was a guild of monster hunters, assembled seekers of wealth and glory who took contracts to hunt and slay beasts and harvest from their bodies precious materials.

The group consisted of four individuals who were thrown together seemingly at random by the Huntmaster of the Hunter's Take, a dwarf named Leodolf Roltermann. These four were Ubah Memburu, a hylo warrior from the Olvani Islands; Tomren Hawich, a human justicar of the Towers of Ten; Taegon Brighteyes, a curious breed of elf the likes of which the world had never seen from a remote forest village on the continent of Utar, far to the south; and myself, Arnold Freuenberger, a humble dwarven bard from the lowlands of Batal.

Our rival team was led by a dwarf named Alberich Adelhard. He was accompanied by a thragg'ar, Bulxan of Clan Ghorumph; a human ranger named Finbar O'Lochlan; a corvo rogue named Asano Udo; and a human druid named Moras Graymoon. Alberich was quick to despise us and acted like a braggart and fool in general.

We were led by Manora Telgoran, a ranger from the Olvani Islands. Our quarry: an adult male couatl. We spent the first day within Dunezar, taking time to purchase provisions from Jungle Jym's Jungle Jymporium, as well as researching couatls in Dunezar University's library. Ubah chose to train in the Hunter's Take guild hall during this time, and Tomren sought out Manora in the Hunter's Mark Inn in Little Dunezar, where they drank and spoke of the Opha.

We left Dunezar around 11:30 in the morning. After around two hours' travel, we were ambushed by a band of vicious pyfron warriors. Although their poisons made the encounter difficult, we prevailed. We looted several wheels of cheese from these pyfron, traveled for a few more hours, and then camped for the evening.

17 Brownleaf 6934 EY: Travel westward continued. Around noon we were alerted to cries for help. Upon investigating, we discovered a kopa who had been accosted and injured by a half-ogre and orc pair who now stood over the wounded okapifolk and argued about what to do with him. With a precise surprise attack we were able to defeat the low creatures, but Taegon was brought down from a single mighty blow from the half-ogre. After healing our ally and the kopa, Arnold used a spell to comprehend languages to speak to the kopa. We learned that the kopa's name was Banda. Although we healed his broken leg, it was still unstable, and it was clear he would not survive the voyage home. Upon insisting we escort him, Banda eventually relented.

Upon arriving at Kumba, the kopa village, we were immediately accosted by kopa guards. After further discussion via the comprehend languages spell, as well as intervention by Mudo, the chieftan of Kumba, we were allowed to stay in the village for the night. During this time, Arnold learned the kopa trance style of music. The others asked Mudo about couatl, and he spoke about how the “winged serpents” lived further into the jungle, near the “forbidden lands” where the “scaled men” live. He warned against traveling into Opha lands, for surely it would spell our death.

We thanked Mudo and the kopa for their hospitality, but as we had daylight left, we decided to press on. After traveling for another four hours, we camped. During the night, we were surprised by the arrival of Alberich and his gang in our campsite. Alberich was furious, insisting that our contract was his by right, and that he would kill us and claim it for himself. Asano, Bulxan, and Finbar were still with him, although they had claimed to have killed Roy and Moras had ran away. After a brief skirmish, Bulxan and Alberich lay dead. Asano and Finbar surrendered, explaining that they had been strongarmed into helping out of a desperate need for coin. After much debating, we agreed to let them leave.

18 Brownleaf 6934 EY: We entered a rainforest wetland area this day and encountered an old hut late in the afternoon. Upon exploring, we discovered it belonged to a night hag named Lysane, who attacked us immediately. Arnold fell in battle, but Lysane quickly recognized our “unusual auras.” She invited us in, where we healed Arnold's wounds and spoke to the eccentric night hag. Ubah opted to remain outside and interacted with Lysane's pet alligators. Lysane read our fortunes: for Arnold, the Sign of the Fool; for Taegon, the Sign of the Horizon; for Tomren, the Sign of the Darkened Path.

19 Brownleaf 6934 EY: In the morning, we discovered a Sarenulian trader named Seto Zian who had taken a wrong turn and his wagon had ended up lost deep within the jungles of Molentius. After helping him dislodge his wayward caravan, Seto was thankful enough to feed us and offer us a discount on his wares.

In the afternoon of the 19th, we were apprehended by a band of rangers belonging to the Viridian Wardens, a secret sect of jungle elves and humans who guard civilized lands from the Opha threat. After meeting with their chief ranger, Eidarel, and their leader, Asteriel, we told them of our mission to hunt the couatl. Eidarel's son, Kellam, had seen a male couatl rampaging in the area and agreed to take us to find the beast in the morning.

During this evening, Eidarel took Ubah and Manora under his wing to teach them the ways of the ranger.

20 Brownleaf 6934 EY: The following day, Kellam led our group to a nearby cavern behind a waterfall. It was here we confronted the couatl in a long, grueling fight. After much bloodshed, we felled the beast and claimed our prize. Upon searching for the gem egg required by our contract, we discovered a dying female couatl in the back of the cave. There were no apparent injuries or illnesses to the creature. Tomren, who has much knowledge of the arcane arts, examined the creature and determined that it lacked any manner of arcane energies—a strange predicament for such inherently magical creatures. This lack of the Weave in the creature caused it to die, and so we put it out of its misery. Arnold collected its feathers as a remembrance, and Tomren harvested its brain for further study.

When we returned to the Viridian Warden's city of Ti'oakana, the Wardens were impressed with our victory. Asteriel discussed Taegon's origins with him, but sadly had no information to give, but impressed upon him the importance of who a person is, not what a person is. Kellam showed Arnold and Tomren a lookout post where they could see Opha'Seph, the Wailing Ziggurat and home of the opha, on the distant horizon.

21 Brownleaf 6934 EY: We were led to the outskirts of the Darkwald by Eidarel and his company of rangers. From here, we journeyed eastward toward Dunezar once more.

22 Brownleaf 6934 EY: We encountered an abandoned camp that seemed to belong to a group of Hunter's Mark guild members. After searching the area and discovering a palm-sized emerald scale, Manora deduced that these hunters had been the victims of an opha attack. The footprints indicated that one individual had been dragged away alive. We debated for a time searching for this soul, but ultimately decided against it when it was determined that this camp site had been laying in ruins for quite some time.

23 Brownleaf 6934 EY: We had a blessed day of quiet travel without interruption. We continued our march eastward, and home to Dunezar.

24 Brownleaf 6934 EY: What began as another quiet day of travel ended in disaster. Mid-afternoon, we were assaulted by a Brotherhood of Chains raiding party. We were overwhelmed by their brutish beaters, who rendered us unconscious. When we awoke, we were isolated and bound in chains. Taegon was in an individual cell opposite of Manora; Arnold and Tomren were locked in a communal cell with an unconscious druid that we identified as Moras Graymoon, the Hunter's Mark initiate who had disappeared; and Ubah was bound to a stretching rack and being interrogated by a spindly human man.

A Flight From the Dark

Taegon began this session in a cell situated across from Manora. Manora seemed terrified—she explained to Taegon that they were in a place beyond their ability, and that they would surely be killed if they attempted to escape. Taegon didn't heed her advice, and instead used his abilities as a mystic elf to teleport out of the cell and assault one of the guards. Using the guard's key stone, he helped Manora to escape as well.

In another cell, Tomren and Arnold were helpless to find a way out. They shared their cell with an unconscious man—none other than Moras Graymoon, the druid from the rival team. A death dog watched them like a sentinel, but when Moras awoke, he used his druidic powers to charm the death dog into doing his bidding. He commanded the death dog to get the keys and used them to help Tomren and Arnold escape.

Ubah found himself isolated in a torture chamber with a thin human man. The human man very briefly tried to get Ubah to submit his will, but Ubah instead resisted or ignored the man's requests. After a couple chill touches, the man left Ubah to stew for a few days. When the man had left, Ubah's manacles came undone and dark whispers urged him to help free another slave. He found a felice woman in an isolation chamber, beaten to unconsciousness and completely naked. This woman was Emanaya, and upon being released and brought to consciousness, she revealed herself to be a powerful warlock who agreed to help Ubah find his friends and escape the compound.

After ducking and dodging through the compound, the three groups coalesced into one. They found the armory where their gear was being kept and re-equipped. Arnold found a new lute here and added it to his repertoire. They crossed the outside yard without being detected and made their way toward the terror wing roost. On the way, they had to fight a group of a half dozen slavers. Because they chose to linger and loot the room, the suspicions of the compound rose enough to raise an alarm.

The group hurried on to the roost where they found the terror wings were remarkably well trained animals that allowed everyone to clamber on board. Moras insisted on staying back to buy the group some time. The rest hijacked terror wings and took off toward Dunezar.

Although the group initially felt as if they had found safety, they quickly learned that they were being pursued by none other than Buzum, the Lord of Chains, as well as a retinue of 30 slavers and two kyton, or chain devils. As Taegon, Tomren and Ubah focused on flying the mounts, Manora and Emanaya launched a barrage of attacks. Eventually, Moras caught up wild shaped as a goose, and commandeered a terror wing of his own.

As the group neared Dunezar, the Jungle Watch trained their ballistae onto the oncoming swarm of terror wings. They shot down Ubah and Taegon's terror wings and a large fight broke out in the city.

After a large amount of confusion and chaos, guard captain Zafar Blackgrace was able to slay the Lord of Chains in single combat. Zafar was furious at the group for leading the slavers in full force to Dunezar. He threatened to imprison them, but ultimately let them go if in exchange they handed over their terror birds that the guardsmen may train them and breed them.

Returning to the Hunter's Take guildhall, the group met with Leodolf Roltermann and collected their reward. They were then led to a secret room within the guildhall where they were introduced to the guild's secret benefactor—a naga named Rhyoulis. Rhyoulis explained the true nature of the Hunter's Take guild: it is a guild of capable warriors who Rhyoulis is training so that one day she might have an army to destroy the opha, that the naga might reclaim the jungles of Molentius for themselves.

The heroes each received their Hunter's Marks and bid farewell to Emanaya and Moras. The session ended there.

Some Much Needed Downtime

The Hunter's Take guild offered the new recruits a feast. Most of the leaders of the Hunter's Take were in attendance, and the group met the following new faces: Archie Trueshot, a halfling bowman of some renown; Heigard Rauss, a legendary member of the Hunter's Take; Belmelia Rauss, Heigard's loving wife and cleric of Elsabene Earthtender; Jared Koner, the guild's foremost trapsmith; Manwulf Wann, an eccentric dwarven knight with a boar mount named Frida; and Winket Frimar, the newest recruit to the Take outside of the group themselves.

After much song, story, food and drink, the group retired for the evening. Concluding an evening of flirting, Manora joined Arnold in his bedchambers.

25 Brownleaf 6934 EY - On this day, Ubah held a meeting with Leodolf in an attempt to convince the guildmaster to lead a counter strike on the slavers. Leodolf explained that it was outside the purview of the Hunter's Take to initiate such a charge; he instead suggested that Ubah discuss the matter with Zafar Blackgrace, the captain of the Jungle Watch. Zafar seemed less than thrilled to see Ubah, but upon hearing his plan, his countenance changed considerably. Zafar revealed that he has long sought a way to end the slavers, and asked for a week to rally his lieutenants and formulate a plan to strike out at the slavers for good.

Meanwhile, Tomren sought out a professor of magical beasts at Dunezar University to discuss the strange, magically-inert brain of the couatl he harvested. He was introduced to Professor Histum Geldimbrag, a haughty and eccentric gnomish professor who insisted on calling Tomren "Wilkins." After finally convincing the professor that he wasn't a student, Tomren relinquished the brain to Geldimbrag's possession, who in turn promised to divulge any information he learned about the brain to Tomren.

26 Brownleaf 6934 EY On this day, the group heard rumors of a unique band playing at the tavern known as the Deep Darkness. When the group went to watch, they discovered the band was composed of members of the low races-an orc, an ogre, a bugbear, a hobgoblin, a goblin, a gnoll, and a kobold lead singer named Cal Cabboway.

Arnold was very impressed by Cal Cabboway and the band that called themselves "Beasts For Peace." Cal agreed to take Arnold under his wing in a crash course—his tuition would be paying the tabs for the band for five straight nights of insane drunken revelry.

27 Brownleaf 6934 EY - Arnold awoke this morning in the Broken Spear tavern, naked but for a g-string with a note from a mysterious individual named "N." Tomren received a mission from his organization instructing him to travel northward to Harubel to dispose of an individual named the "Father of Worms." Ubah began recruiting individuals for the strike force on the Valley of Chains.

28 Brownleaf 6934 EY - While training with Ubah and Winket, Taegon noticed a loon flying through the air. Knowing this bird to not be native to the jungles, Taegon followed it into the jungle. It led him to a statue that took the form of Tarathiel, his goddess. There, Taegon took his oath of the ancients in the light of his goddess. Meanwhile, Arnold awoke this day in an orphanage where he had apparently stumbled in and eaten all of the children's cookies.

29 Brownleaf 6934 EY - Arnold awoke this day in his own bed, but strapped with leather bindings, naked, and with a foreign object lodged in his nether regions. When produced, it turned out to be a magical rod. This rod of wonder is capable of creating thousands of unique effects, but they occur at random. On its first use, Arnold granted sentience to a chair, which immediately began panicking and screaming in existential crisis. Meanwhile, Zafar called a meeting with Ubah, Taegon and Tomren to discuss their plans for attacking the Valley of Chains. After several plans were discussed, it was beginning to look like there are no easy way to make the strike happen. Taegon resolved to make contact with the Hunter's Take guild members to see who might be interested in joining, and he also planned on contacting the Viridian Wardens in hopes that they might send aid. Ubah meanwhile endeavored to research the Tongo Mountains in the hopes of finding an underground passage into the Valley of Chains.

The time for retribution draws nearer

30 Brownleaf 6934 EY: Tomren received word back from Professor Geldimbrag of Dunezar University on this day. when he arrived, he discovered that the Valorous Family, Realm's rulership, had discovered the couatl brain and had sent a representative named Child Temperance. Child Temperance requested the brain be relinquished to Imperial control; after Temperance had left, Tomren confronted Geldimbrag, who explained he sought the opinion of a colleague at the Imperial Academy and it must have been intercepted by the Valorous Family.

Taegon made a plea to the Hunter's Take to help with the mission against the slavers. Heigard explained that he would only take a paid contract to hunt beasts. Manora, on the other hand, was more than ready to relinquish her role as an officer of the Hunter's Take. She also introduced Taegon to Elder Nazu, the leader of the ardo in Heronsflight, who cast an animal messenger spell to send word to the Viridian Wardens for aid.

31 Brownleaf 6934 EY: Arnold officially graduated from the college of satire on this day and was rewarded by learning the "swamp blues" style of music as well as being given a harmonica.After B4P left, he was approached by their trombonist, a hobgoblin named Thunder. Thunder explained that he knew the group was about to travel into a dangerous place and that hobgoblins were a tactical, ordered, warlike people, and he grew up in that tradition and felt he would be a useful asset.

On this day, Ubah discovered an old journal from a long-forgotten expedition beneath the Tongo Mountains. It described untold natural riches discovered under the mountains, but also an ancient evil called "the Abortion" that seemingly killed the miners to a man.

With this knowledge, the group met with Zafar to discuss further plans. Zafar introduced the group to the nine watch men that would be joining them, as well as the three lieutenants he had requested waiting for their return: Eza Nyafor, Barin Gunny, and Remi Thobard.

1 Deadtree 6934 EY: While preparing the chain of command while he was gone, Zafar said it would be two more days before the group could move out. During this time, Leodolf summoned the group to his office because there had been a new contract put out and they had been specifically selected to fulfill it. The contract was from Floriano Stricklen himself, the "big boss" of Dunezar, who was present in Leodolf's office. Floriano made a point of being a contentious, arrogant sort who made it very clear he expected this hunt to be a priority and for it to be a successful one.

Also during this day, Heigard and Belmira approached the group. They explained that they had seen the fresh and raw recruits being sent into battle against the slavers and it troubled them. Heigard explained that the one thing he hates more than anything is seeing young soldiers die. And so, despite the fact that it would anger his old friend Leodolf and likely put his officer position at risk, Heigard and Belmira gave themselves to the cause, as well as recruiting their friend, Archie Trueshot.

On this final night before the expedition, a large party was had at the Silver Monkey with most of the warband in attendance—Zafar recused himself, as did Ubah. During this party, the group paired off with a number of women: Arnold with Manora again; Tomren with lieutenant Eza Nyafor; and Taegon with a vulpini woman, with the help of wingman Remi Thobard.

2 Deadtree 6934 EY: The group at last set off toward the Tongo Mountains to plumb the Razorspire Mines for the entrance to the Valley of Chains. As they were leaving, they were stopped by a man in a rainbow cowl: none other than Kellam, son of Eidarel, of the Viridian Wardens, who had heard Taegon's call and traveled this long distance to help them fight whatever they may face. Another ally and a new hope in the face of a looming and unknown evil.

A Nightmare in Waiting

2 Deadtree 6934 EY: The war party arrived at Crade's Spire in mid-afternoon and, following instructions as laid out by the notes left by the dwarven miners, found the entrance to Razorspire Mine as the sun began to set. Zafar suggested setting up camp outside the entrance. The milita folk began discussing their lives outside of the militia, and spirits seemed high, until an unnatural wailing emitted from the depths of Razorspire Mine. The noises set the camp ill at ease until Heigard, Belmelia, Taegon, Remi, and Arnold formed an impromptu band to play music and lift the spirits. The plan succeeded, and, with the help of Barin's surprisingly quality food, the group was able to forget the imminent danger.

Manora dragged Arnold away from the campsite to engage in a bit of intimacy. After finding a quiet place, the pair was interrupted by a dwarven entity clad in black leathers. The entity emitted a sense of amazing power and admonished Arnold for "wasting time" with the slavers when so many important things were about to happen. Shaken by the encounter, the couple returned to the camp.

Eza chose to spend this evening sleeping with Tomren as she was too afraid of the following day to sleep on her own. Zafar invited Taegon and Ubah to sleep in his pavilion tent, as they did not own tents.

3 Deadtree 6934 EY: The group finally entered the Razorspire Mines. Nearly immediately, they are beset upon by a horde of arachnid humanoid creatures called 'chitines.' The group bravely warded off these attackers, losing only Leylam Mudeya, a militia man, to the onslaught.

Heading northward and deeper into the caves, the group resisted the urge to explore any more than they had to. They stumbled into a nest of gazers, lesser beholderkin that were led by a spectator. These creatures were quickly dispatched, and in this room was found a sizable crate of mythril, as requested by the ardo.

Venturing northward more, the cavern opened into an immense quarry of purite. Here, thousands of feet below, the group could see countless chitine scrambling to avoid the light being refracted off of the seams and veins of raw purite found here. The group tried to hurry through this cavern, but was stopped by the arrival of the creature known as the Abortion: a pale, ghastly aberration roughly beholder in form but with pale white skin and a bleeding red eye.

A terrible battle was fought, and many were injured. Bannet Dofrey and Eza Nyafor both had their lives claimed by the monstrosity until Belmelia landed a lucky strike of holy energy, destroying the creature completely.

Finding a pathway that seemingly led to the Valley of Chains and feeling that they had left the horrors of the Razorspire Mine behind them, the group decided to camp to recoup, regroup, and prepare for the final push on the slavers.

A new chapter begins.

3 Deadtree 6934 EY: That evening, the group spend time mourning their lost. Tomren made a small cairn to remember Eza, Leylam, and Bannet. Tomren made a speech about focusing on the living, not the dead. The group rested in relatively high spirits.

4 Deadtree 6934 EY: The group began the morning with an early morning assault on the Valley of Chains at last. The group caught the slavers unaware, and an intense and prolonged bloodbath ensued. Many slavers died, including their azer forgemaster. During the battle, the slavers attempted to unleash an ursith slave they had thought to be broken, but the ursith turned on them, transforming into a dire wolf and ravaging them without pity. The Lord of Chains, now former interrogator Jon Treehill, showed up at last, but did not enter battle as his armies had been laid to waste. He put down his weapons and pled mercy, for his name was a noble name in the Imperial city of Blueholt. There was a brief discussion on Jon's fate, and ultimately Ubah knocked him unconscious and he was brought back home to Dunezar, along with 27 slaves and the ursith, who introduced herself as Haseya of Sipaku. Haseya had been traveling to find a cure for her people, and she had been caught by the slavers to allow her elven companions to escape.

In Dunezar, Zafar thanked the group for help with the slave ring bust. He became emotional for perhaps the first time the group had ever seen, but would not detail why. Haseya, Taegon and Arnold visited with Elder Nazu of the ardo to give him the mythril they had found. Nazu tried to answer questions, but sadly had little true information, although plenty of wisdom. He allowed Taegon to keep half of the mythril—enough to craft a single weapon.

Ubah visited with Magda, the commoner woman he had helped with. He gave the woman a considerable amount of money from his earnings from taking the slaver's bounty—200 gold pieces. He instructed Magda to buy a house. With this money, Magda could afford to purchase a house for her and her children in Hightown District. Magda was speechless and beyond thankful.

A discussion was had regarding what to do next: the group had two tasks ahead of them in their contract from Floriano Stricklen to take down the troll, and Tomren's justicar assignment to handle an entity called "the Father of Worms" in Harubel. After some debate, it could not be determined which was the best course of action. The group agreed to consult with Leodolf in the morning and called it a night.

5 Deadtree 6934 EY: The following morning, Leodolf met with the group over breakfast. They explained their dilemma, and Leodolf said that, simply put, the group needed to handle whichever the biggest perceived threat was. The group expressed concern regarding the wrath of Floriano if they didn't do the Hunter's Take contract right away, and Leodolf was quick to dismiss fear of Floriano, calling him a "fucking asshole" and urging the group not to worry about him. At this, and with Ubah wishing to be tested to see if he had capabilities in magic, it was decided that the group would head northward to Harubel before seeking to slay the troll.

Arnold then came upon the idea to use the cover of a traveling performer's group to hide their identities in case they were ever being hunted. The group agreed to this ruse with Ubah being the most hesitant, but even the normally straight-laced hylo agreed to the idea, under the stipulation that he was taught the arts of deception to help sell the idea of a traveling group.

Before the group could catch a barge bound north to Harubel, they were summoned to Junglewatch Keep by Zafar. The captain of the guard said that, via magical communications, the Treehills of Blueholt had been reached. The noble family wanted nothing to do with their wayward son as he had become a warlock and a slaver. Zafar said that normally he would mete out justice, but in this case he wanted to allow the group to decide the slaver's fate. Initially it seemed the group agreed on imprisonment, but after discussion, minds changed to execution. Speaking with Jon did the man no favors; he remained arrogant and unashamed, even in chains. Tomren would have no part in executing a man and left the room, while Zafar loaned his magically-enchanted falchion, Falconsong, to Ubah to do the deed. Before it was done, Jon had final words to say: "The Eyes of Hell will always be on you, Ubah Memburu."

Welcome to Harubel -- City of the Croc Arena!

6 Deadtree 6934 EY: After wrapping up some loose ends in town, including commissioning a mythril odachi be made for Taegon by the ardo smiths, the group finally set forth northward to Harubel. They bought passage aboard a barge called the Mistress which was ran by a plucky halfron named Nichol Farlock. Aboard the ship, the group met Jorr Keber, a reserved farmer from Dunezar, and his energetic eight-year-old son, Leyne Keber. The group immediately took to Leyne, despite Jorr's reservations toward his son bothering a group of potentially dangerous strangers.

Upon questioning how Farlock's boat moves upriver, he refused to give an answer. Curiosity got the better of Haseya, and she transformed into a giant toad and dove into the water, where she was immediately attacked by Princess, Farlock's friend and means of conveyance, a great pleisiosaur. Although he was less than thrilled about having his secret revealed, Farlock remained friendly toward the group.

That evening, Ubah was visited by an entity in a dream. The entity came to him in the guise of Floriano Stricklen, but introduced himself as Ruzazel, or 'Rue,' for short. Ruzazel was accompanied by two succubi, and the apparent demon explained to Ubah that Ubah had stolen something from him. Normally Ruzazel wouldn't seek retribution against someone who killed one of his pact-wielders, but when Ruzazel looked into Ubah's past, present and future, he liked what he saw, and he wanted in. Ruzazel offered Ubah a contract for infernal powers, but Ubah declined. This infuriated Ruzazel, and he ended the conversation with a vague threat—"You and me ain't finished."

7 Deadtree 6934 EY: Much to Leyne's thorough excitement, the group arrived in Harubel on this day. Although its population is less than half of Dunezar's, Harubel exuded a sense of vibrance and excitement. There was an electricity throughout the city, and it radiated from its central hub—the Great Croc Arena. Arnold was quick to convince Taegon to visit the Croc-Arena, while Ubah and Tomren went to the Tower District to find the Tracer that could analyze Ubah's potential. Haseya went to the Lawn, a menagerie of animals kept in captivity in the city.

Arnold and Taegon were quick to find out that tickets for Crocomania had been sold out. While discussing what to do next, they were approached by an old friend and a familiar face—Moras Graymoon. Moras was thrilled to see his old friends, and quickly launched into an adoring rant about croc wrestling. It seemed Moras had procured a fistful of tickets by gambling on previous croc wrestling matches, and while he was going to sell them, he instead was more than happy to give them to his friends.

Meanwhile, Haseya was investigating the menagerie, and rapidly disliked what she saw. Although the animals seemed well-kept and did not live in squalor, their enclosures left much to be desired, and a few of the animals were desperate for companionship. She spoke with the animals and learned much of their histories, their complaints and their compliments. She spoke with the pair of keepers who operated the menagerie who turned out to be earnest and passionate people but who were severely underfunded as most of Harubel's money went to the Croc-Arena. Haseya seemed to contemplate donating, but after discovering that renovations would exceed thousands of gold, put the idea on the backburner.

Ubah and Tomren met with the Tracer who lived in the wizard tower in the Tower District, an eccentric-looking wood elf named Star Eyes. Star Eyes didn't hesitate in examining Ubah's mind for magic potential. What he found there befuddled him. Ubah's magical potential was the equivalent of Gage Truthseeker's, one of the greatest wizards of the age. Although it would require years of training to achieve even a portion of Gage's ability, the potential was there. Star Eyes urged Ubah to join the Towers immediately, warning that it would take years to learn the ways of wizardry. Ubah asked if he could just be taught by Tomren, but Star Eyes insisted that it was expressly forbidden by the Towers. Ubah declined the offer, explaining he had much to do and couldn't give away years of his life to the Towers. Star Eyes offered one last test which revealed that Ubah's special affinity was with the orange weave, that of duty and sloth, which governed the arcane school of conjuration.

Once the group reconvened, they all attended the penultimate evening of Crocomania XXXVII. Arnold was able to convince Taegon to participate, using his lenses of charming to seal the deal. Tomren used this time to bet on some of the matches, making a small amount of money. Arnold used his Vicious Mockery spell to cause Grok "The Croc" Grokson to lose his match. Although he did it just for fun, he was quickly identified as having disrupted the match and was escorted out of the coliseum and thrown in the stockades. Haseya watched the entire affair with extreme scrutiny, being sure that the animals weren't actually being harmed during the show. And while Taegon did not perform as well as the coliseum predicted, he did an admirable enough job to earn a handshake from legendary croc wrestler Grok "The Croc" Grokson, who also gave 'autographs' for Moras and one for Leyne, should the group see him again on the trip home.

After discussion with Moras about his mission to find the druid Circles and that the Black Circle seemed completely gone, Haseya mentioned that the vet on staff at the menagerie was a Black Circle druid, and it might prove useful to Moras to visit her. Moras agreed and made plans to visit the menagerie in the morning. The group realized that this druid might have information on the Father of Worms and possible rumors or leads that would help them on their mission, and agreed to accompany Moras to see this druid in the morning.

A legend appears.

8 Deadtree 6934 EY: Arnold awoke in a cell, having spent the night in the stockades. Unsure of his fate, he had passed the time annoying the jailor with his harmonica. Eventually, a mysterious benefactor entered and paid Arnold's hefty fee of 5,000 gp. When Arnold was let out, he learned his benefactor was none other than Cal Cabboway and the Beasts for Peace. The money used to bail Arnold rendered B4P mostly broke, but they handwaved Arnold's concerns, claiming they were done with Molentius and ready to travel south to Dalorene to make it big.

Arnold met up with the gang at the Blackened Bones inn and caught up on the goings-on. Tomren let slip about Ubah's encounter with Ruzazel, but the team took it in stride, understanding that it was just an additional threat to be aware of.

The team plus Moras traveled to the menagerie to meet the Black Circle druid, who turned out to be a hard-headed halfron woman named Malory Fairgold. Malory was reticent to help the group, but when it was made known that contact with the Black Circle had been entirely cut off, she grew concerned enough to agree to accompany the group to the Black Circle territories.

The trek was uneventful and unpleasant. Moras had a conversation with Haseya about how they became druids. He then asked her about Ahiga and his health, and then entered a heated debate with Ahiga about which parts of a chicken are the tastiest.

As the group traveled westward, the bogs and swamps gave way to dryer marshes interspersed with islands covered in tall savannah grass. This marshland marked the transitional lands between Molentius and Perilar. The soaring mesas and plateaus of the thragg'ar lands could be seen from this location.

It was here the group discovered the Black Circle refuge, and that it had seemingly been completely abandoned. The Black Circle lived in huts of straw and mud, and as the group explored the Circle, they were suddenly attacked by human and ursith zombies. After a long battle with the particularly resilient ursith druids, Moras made an emergency trip to the Throgswald via a tree stride scroll and an old thorn acacia tree.

When Moras returned, he was accompanied by Archdruid Thro'gok of Clan Ulgar, more colloquially known as Throg, a living legend and arguably the most powerful druid in all of Pryme. Throg was accompanied by his animal companion, a beast of legend, the lioness Lya. Throg was shaken by the state of the Black Circle. He commanded Malory to take the reigns and become the new leader, but Malory declined, citing her work at the menagerie as her excuse, and that she would make a poor leader in general. This irritated Throg, who sent Moras to return to the Throgswald and return with Lyra Sprig and 2000 gold pieces.

While Moras was gone, Throg exchanged much wisdom with the group. He admitted that he knew Haseya's parents, particularly Sani, her father, and that Sani had been instrumental in regrowing the Throgswald. He spoke to Taegon about his question and that the soul of the planet had only told Throg that Taegon must look "beyond the storm." Throg was also impressed by Lya's apparent affection and subservience toward Taegon, and mentioned it may be a clue to his answer.

Regarding Haseya's peoples' sickness, Throg could only say that such maladies are common in Ethovan folklore where fae are involved; the fae enjoy curses of sterility to harm shepherds and farmers. He admitted it wasn't much help, but to remember that kernels of truth exist within folk tales.

Throg had rather harsh words for Tomren, as Throg has little patience for the undead or necromancers. Tomren began to defend himself, but Throg was quick to make it apparent that he was not in the mood to bandy words with a justicar, and Tomren wisely accepted that he should pick his battles and remained silent.

Throg warned the party that the Towers were the lapdogs of the Empire of Realm, and the Empire of Realm had zero interest in anything other than the wellbeing of the Empire itself. When Haseya defended her friend, Throg pointed to the undead corpses of the ursith which had unsettled the ursith druid, and commented that, in time, Tomren would be capable of creating such creatures, and would likely not hesitate in doing so, and urged Haseya to meditate on that information.

Moras returned with Lyra Sprig, a vibrant but aging beauty of a human druid, and a satchel with the requested money. Throg explained the money was for Moras that he might continue his mission, and then asked Lyra to take command at the Black Circle. Lyra was ready for this, and accepted. Malory and Moras offered to stay and help rebuild as they could, and Throg, using his instincts and heightened senses, confirmed Haseya's suspicions of an unnatural cause for this atrocity. Throg said to travel east of Harubel, and to follow the insects.

The group did as Throg suggested and were eventually assailed by a group of giant maggots and flies. After a repulsive battle in which Taegon found himself overwhelmed by the overgrown vermin, the group was victorious. Haseya, in tiger form, heard a droning from afar, and made a beeline to a small hold in the ground mostly obscured by moss. This hole led into a cavern system. After a short rest, the group ventured in.

Cutting straight to the heart of the cavern and circumventing most of its horrible denizens, the group found what appeared to be a bedroom that was unoccupied. They ransacked the room of its valuables, which included a strange green worm held suspended in formaldehyde yet still twitching with life, or perhaps unlife.

Records recovered by Tomren detailed the ascent of a man originally named Kai Johannson who, after being diagnosed with a wasting disease, traveled to Molentius for answers. Dissatisfied with the healing the druids provided, Kai sought more immediate answers. This attracted the attention of Shuddemal, an outer plane entity. Kai took Shuddemal as his patron which caused some manner of physical transformation in him. He then returned to the Black Circle and killed them all for being inefficient and not providing Kai with the answers he needed.

The notes then described that Shuddemal had commanded Kai, now calling himself the Father of Worms, to awaken one of Shuddemal's ancient servants: a horror entity known as an ulgurstasta that slept in a crypt beneath the Great Croc-Arena. This awakening would kill everyone in the arena, reviving them as an undead army that the Father of Worms could use to usher in a new age of horror and despair. Panic overcame the group as they realized this ritual was happening tonight, at the apex of the festivities of Crocomania, which was due to begin in mere hours. Without further hesitation, the group fled back to Harubel, hoping they could make it in time.

Old enemies are taken care of and new allies are found.

Norday, 8 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group rushed with all urgency to Harubel where they made their way to the Croc-Arena. After discussing various plans on how to get underneath the arena, eventually they found stairs leading below. This led them "behind the scenes," where they were led to the shower and locker rooms by the writhing green worm that Tomren kept from the Father of Worm's lair. In the locker room, they discovered Grok "the Croc" Grokson. Arnold used his way with words to convince Grok that a great evil was threatening the arena, and Grok agreed to join them.

After stumbling for a time to find the secret entrance, Arnold's stonecunning picked up that part of the bas relief on the wall was recent: a carving of a worm with a lamprey-like mouth lined with rows of teeth. The worm was twitching spastically at this point, so Tomren made the decision to let it out. It quickly crawled into the carving's "mouth," unlocking a way to a secret chamber.

After dispatching his carrion crawler minions, the heroes came face-to-face with the Father of Worms, who was in the middle of a ritual to resurrect the ulgurstasta. The warlock had tied the abducted travelers to the walls around this room and had been gradually letting their blood to flow into the center of the chamber where the ulgurstasta remained. Thanks to some very powerful blows by Grok's fists and the justicar expertise of Tomren, the group made fairly quick work of the Father of Worms and his minion, a phase spider named Voidwidow.

The heroes had discovered also that one of the abducted individuals was Leyne, so as soon as the battle was over, Grok and Haseya rushed to Leyne's side, healing him and carrying him out. They quickly reunited with Jorr, who was beside himself with worry and thanked the heroes endlessly.

When the heroes returned to the Blackened Bones Inn to celebrate, Tomren and Haseya each had letters waiting for them. Although they chose to keep the contents of these letters to themselves, Haseya was provided with enough gold to provide the menagerie everything it needed. She gave the coin to them, and they were astonished, speechless, and beyond thankful. Additionally, Tomren received his promotion to Justicar-Strider, meaning he could now leave Molentius whenever he wished.

Venday, 9 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group awoke and found Farlock waiting in the harbor district. He was happy to let his old friends onto his barge to travel back downriver. Because they were his only passengers, he allowed Princess to surface and the group learned that she is something of a softie, and even got to pet and feed the plesiosaur. The trip downriver took the day, which was pleasant and uneventful.

Taursday, 10 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group arrived back in Dunezar early in the morning. Herod Elwald, the guardsman, was waiting for them at the docks, saying that Zafar had posted him there until their return. It seemed that there had been a break-in at the Hunter's Take guildhall, and although the burglar was apprehended, Haseya was somehow implicated in the whole mess.

Zafar escorted the group to the Jungle Watch Keep and into the stockades, where Haseya found her old friend and compatriot, Misae, who had already unlocked her cell door with a stowed away lockpick. Zafar was baffled and made uncomfortable by this new acquisition, and told Haseya to keep an eye on her. Relieved to be reunited with her old friend, Haseya introduced Misae to the group. The wood elf immediately made an impression by being confrontational with Tomren due to his race and affiliation with the Towers of Ten.

On their way to the Hunter's Take guild hall, Haseya was spotted by the farmers who were left in charge of the terror wings. It turned out that the winged reptiles had fallen ill, and the workload of keeping the barn clean was too much for the farmers, and their living space had become disgusting. Haseya spoke with the terror wings and learned they were dying from the lack of a vital nutrient only found in Tongo thistle, which grew in the high peaks of the Tongo mountains. As Haseya was making plans to find this thistle, Manora showed up to see Arnold. Hearing about this thistle, Manora offered her assistance to go find the thistle, along with Winket, Herod, Adlyth, and Archie. The heroes then spent six hours scrubbing every inch of the barn free of terror wing droppings, save for Taegon, who ventured back to Zafar to declare these conditions unacceptable. Zafar had been unaware and agreed with Taegon, and also agreed to speak to Floriano.

This led to Zafar coming to the group in the middle of their cleaning to let them know Floriano refused to speak about a new home for the terror wings to Zafar and instead insisted upon an audience with the heroes. The group acquiesced and traveled to Floriano's mansion.

Floriano was, as always, arrogant and confrontational without being outright hostile or impolite. He made it clear he felt insulted that his contract had been put on "the back burner" and if the group could "afford to turn up their noses at good coin then they could pay for their birdcage themselves." Misae, new to both Molentius and Dunezar, proceeded to say a deluge of incredibly unkind things to Floriano, who handled it calmly, but politely asked one of his guards to add Misae's name to "the list."

The group retired to the Hunter's Take guildhall to rest and prepare to begin their troll hunt the following morning.

Oathday, 11 Deadtree, 6934 EY: In the early hours of the morning, Taegon and Misae had a conversation about many things, particularly their connection as fellow elves, Taegon's origins, missing being in a proper forest, and, mostly, how Misae conducts herself around others. Taegon tried to make it clear that they could have powerful enemies, and even if these enemies were despised, the group had to be careful about how they conducted themselves around these entities. Misae apologized for her brashness and expressed hope that she could make a better second impression.

Once the rest of the group had awoken, they set out and headed west into the jungle, following a trail Ubah had picked up that seemed to belong to a troll. With Leodolf's wisdom in their minds, the group began looking for some manner of ruin.

Along the way, the group stumbled into a wizard of the Black Tower who stood on a giant, undead beetle. The wizard was being attacked by a pyfron warband. The group easily dispatched the pyfron, and the wizard introduced himself as Sam Nibley. While some thought his beetle, a husk strider named "Mister Peeper" was neat, others thought it was an abomination, and others didn't care and wanted to focus on the mission.

The group traveled for a few more hours before making camp that night.

Lorday, 12 Deadtree, 6934 EY: Less than an hour into their travel, the group stumbled upon what appeared to be an intact and undiscovered ophan ruin. The tracks of the troll led directly to this ziggurat, and so the group followed in. Despite being very careful, they sprung a trap that destroyed the way in to the ziggurat, which nearly also killed Haseya. Now in what seems to be a central chamber dominated by a giant green statue, the group prepares itself for the dangers of Opha'Copa, the Jade Ziggurat.

Turns out, opha just love traps.

Lorday, 12 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The heroes spent this day exploring the inside of Opha'copa, the Jade Ziggurat. It did not take long for them to learn that the ancient building was a death trap, and nearly every room or corridor held a deadly trap to deter invaders. They agreed to put Misae in the front to utilize her trap finding abilities.

After a number of traps triggered, some traps disarmed, and a handful of fights against orogs and barbarian slaves, as well as an entire fight circumvented by Haseya speaking to some angry venomous serpents, the group found an enormous door with an intricate and gruesome carving. The door was emblazoned with opha hieroglyphics. Arnold cast comprehend languages to decipher the script, which read:

" The Lady of Torture desires your tears;
The Lord of Slaves demands your blood.
The Lady of Death wants a drop of venom,
The God of War demands the royal gem."

After experimenting with a couple of different ideas, the group abandoned this puzzle to continue exploring the dungeon. After a time, they discovered a giant diamond. Although it held no magic, they began to question if this diamond's purpose was tied to the door. As they continued exploring the dungeon, they discovered a sapphire and an emerald of equal size. During this time, they also encountered a pair of fire snakes that they battled, Misae acquired an elaborate and deadly magical bow, and the group circumvented an encounter with pyfron slaves by trapping them inside their quarters.

The group now approaches what appears to be the entrance to some sort of shrine. Before they can open the door, however, a reptilian hiss issues forth from behind them, and they find themselves cornered by a dangerous new foe: a basilisk.

The beginning of something big.

Lorday, 12 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The heroes continued their exploration of Opha'copa, the Jade Ziggurat. Their encounter with the basilisk was deadly and nearly defeated the team; however, the two who were turned to stone reverted back to normal upon the realization and learning that this was a lesser basilisk.

The group also encountered the undead remains of a naga, which guarded the crypts of Opha'copa. After taking out the guardian, Misae found a snakeskin cloak which she later identified as a cloak of protection.

The group then found the final gem needed to open the door, the Ruby of Shim, but had to fight a black pudding in order to claim it. After this combat, the group agreed to bar the door to the room they were in and risk spending a night in the ziggurat.

Although the group was not attacked, they were greeted by a visitor in the night; something attempted to get inside the room, but could not get through the barred door. This confirmed the groups' suspicion that something knew they were there.

Arday, 13 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The heroes took the four gems to the large door and inserted them into the slots that fit the puzzle. A mechanism ground the four gems into dust and shards; when the heroes picked up the shards, they discovered they had become infused with the Weave, and were Woven Relics now.

Upon entering the room, they found a massive chamber that housed a single object; an artifact crafted of gold that looked like an ornate sword hilt without a blade. It hovered in the air above an altar, and light shown down on it from a window above.

Just then, the group was ambushed by the troll that they had been hunting. The troll grabbed the hilt and attempted to wield it, but the weapon reacted to Ubah's presence, and a jade-colored flame erupted from the hilt. The troll, terrified of fire, threw the weapon aside, and charged into battle with just its claws.

Having prepared for this fight, the group made very short work of the troll. Arnold summoned a fire elemental and Taegon scored a very fortunate, gruesome, and critical hit on the troll. Ubah cautiously approached the weapon that seemed to call to him, and Tomren issued a word of warning, but it was too late: the hilt flew to Ubah's hand, and the flame blade burst forth. This summoned an intense booming sound that knocked everyone in the room prone except for Ubah. An enormous column of brilliant green light issued out of the sword and into the sky. Tomren also saw a vision of a man he thought he recognized. And then the ziggurat began trembling and collapsing.

The group made a desperate exit out of the ziggurat, but were stopped in the entry hallway by the guardian of the ziggurat: an opha named Tenoss. The group valiantly fought against Tenoss while the ziggurat threatened to consume them in collapse. They ducked and doged through falling debris and slew the serpentine creature. They made their daring escape just in time, as Opha'Copa exploded behind them. The debris knocked several members of the party unconscious, but all had survived. The enormous pillar of green light still existed, likely visible for miles around. Upon further recollection, Tomren knew the man's name to be Aethyr Phane, and that he had been one of the founders of the Towers of Ten. He also read the words inscribed upon Jadeflame, and knew them to be the words of one of the Towers, but could not recall which. Finally, each heard a voice in their head tell them the same message: It begins. Misae, however, did not hear a voice.

Truday, 14 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group spent this day traveling back to Dunezar.

Norday, 15 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group returns to Dunezar triumphant. They immediately travel to the Hunter's Take lodge to claim their money. Leodolf apologetically explained that he cannot issue payment because Floriano had yet to deliver the money as promised.

The group decided to seek Floriano out, but he beat him to the punch; the door to Leodolf's office open, and Floriano strode in with two of his lackeys. Floriano explained that he felt insulted by the group's unwillingness to help him immediately, and said he was only willing to pay half of what he agreed upon. Leodolf, a fan of contracts and rules, warned Floriano that that was not how the rules worked. Floriano then responded with a threat of violence. Leodolf, quicker than his appearance would suggest, produced two flintlock pistols and, with two shots, killed Floriano's men. Floriano produced a dagger, but Leodolf's blunderbuss was already in his hands; he shot over Tomren's shoulder, and the spray of shot hit Floriano's arm, causing him to drop his knife. Leodolf lit a cigar with one of the still-smoking pistol barrels and walked over to Floriano. He used Floriano's knife to carve out the shot, and then used the cigar to cauterize his wounds. He searched Floriano's person and found a bag of gold—an amount equal to the agreed-upon amount. Leodolf told Floriano he knew he would bring the full amount, because Floriano is a coward. He then demanded that Floriano leave, which he did. He turned the money over to the group, who were relieved to no longer have to worry about Floriano, at least for now.

Ruminating on what their next move should be, Tomren identified Jadeflame as an incredibly unique and powerful artifact that deserved further research. He realized then that, after all business had been resolved in Dunezar, the group had one place they needed to go for answers: the Library of Sjet in the country of Bratana, far to the south.

I still can't believe you did that.

A very detailed description of these days was written but then lost during a power outage, so this update will be uncharacteristically brief.

Venday, 16 Deadtree, 6934 EY: Group meets with Zafar, told to speak with Krystof Kraus. Zafar agrees to accompany group to Bratana. Krystof met and allowed to come with group to Bratana despite reservations about his 14-year-old granddaughter being left alone to run his shop.

Taursday, 17 Deadtree, 6934 EY: Primarily downtime waiting for Manora to return. Haseya and Misae write messages home. Haseya dreams of a giant crystal that warns her of "the Eye."

Oathday, 18 Deadtree, 6934 EY: Manora arrives successful from her mission. A majority of the Dunezar conflicts are resolved, at least temporarily.

Lorday, 19 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group aheads out with Zafar and Krystof in tow aboard Farlock's barge. They meet another passenger, Ileena Bayle, who is traveling to Sarenul to consult with oracles to determine where her missing son has gone.

Arday, 20 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The barge makes a pit stop in the city of Zelgaruk to sell some cargo and bring on more cargo. Haseya, Misae and Arnold, curious about all of the missing children, goes to the Imperial outpost to find documentation. Arnold fucking kills an innocent woman. Misae and Arnold are imprisoned, and Tomren has to use his authority as a justicar while Haseya used her shapeshifting skills as a druid to get them freed. The group returns to the Indigo Blade Inn, where they rest and (hopefully) plan a quick escape in the morning. Misae has a dream about a donkey who tells her she isn't special but he wants to help make her special and forge her own destiny.

The ninth largest city in Pryme is kind of a shit hole...

Truday, 21 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group made a quick exit out of Eruk early in the morning. They learned that a new passenger had joined the Mistress—a hunter named Midolf Parimir. Although initially suspicious of this new passenger, it quickly became apparent that Midolf was what he seemed. The group made it to Eruk that day, and for the first time saw the Dragonsguard, the giant wall that separates Sarenul from the rest of the Great Continent.

Norday, 22 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group spent a pleasant day exploring Eruk. Haseya and Misae encountered a troop of heibai riders, and Tomren bought a woven relic. The entire group explored an art museum that held many artifacts of the conflict between Realm and Sarenul. That evening, pretty much everyone but Zafar, Ubah and Haseya shacked up with a random stranger.

Venday, 23 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group spent the day traveling to Matutu. During this time, Taegon confronted Arnold about killing the woman back in Zelgaruk. Arnold attempted to defend himself, explaining it was an accident and that he felt awful about it. He tried to lighten the mood by using the rod of wonder, but ended up getting the group stuck in a pit of butter. They arrived in Matutu that evening and spent the night there.

Taursday, 24 Deadtree, 6934 EY: In the morning, Misae and Tomren paid to scrawl a message on the Dragonsguard, and then the group continued onward to Port Siraston. The journey was mostly uneventful; Misae flirted with the wall guards, and Tomren spoke to Krystof about magic and his time as a collector for the Yellow Tower.

Oathsday, 25 Deadtree, 6934 EY: Another relatively uneventful day of travel on the way to Port Siraston. Discussion was had with Zafar about his horse, which caused him to become very guarded and attempted to divert attention from himself. Tomren received another assignment to bring in a sorcerer named Ka'theres Moonstalker.

Lorday, 26 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group finally arrived in Port Siraston. When Zafar identified himself as "Zafar za-Farahani" to the gate guard, he was pulled aside. Zafar instructed the group to go on without him and he would find them; Krystof offered to stay with Zafar and check the horses and the wagon. The group was immediately approached by three men: Vitus Armuski, a brusque dwarf who offered to be the city guide at a high price; Connelly Faraday, a jittery young human man who offered a much lower price but seemed inexperienced; and Swift Wind, an articulate and polite wood elf who appealed to Haseya and Misae, offering his services for a reasonable fee. After some discussion, the group agreed to go with Swift Wind.

Quickly, it became apparent that Swift Wind was actually a bandit, and lured the group into an ambush in Corso, a corvo neighborhood known for its crime and brutality. The group made quick work of Swift Wind's minions, but the wood elf himself got away, much to the anger of the group, particularly Misae, who felt personally betrayed.

The group was now hopelessly lost in Port Siraston. Haseya flew up but the enormous city nearly made her nauseous. She was able to determine that the docks were to the south before she retreated back to land. The group wandered for a while, ending up in the Guild District. Here, they encountered a strange shop called the Rainbow Rat. Tomren begged for them to go in, where they discovered it was a shop where one could buy a dyed and taxidermied giant rat, put into a pose, and dressed in clothing of the buyer's choice. Tomren purchased a rat dyed black in a dancing pose dressed as a wizard. Haseya was weirded out by this. Misae bought a tiny hat to put on Haseya when she was in hawk form, much to Haseya's dismay.

The group eventually found their way to the docks but were unable to find an inn. An elderly felice woman agreed to help give them directions if they patronized her, as she was a fortune teller. The group agreed and had their fortunes read, then the woman pointed them to the White Hart Inn—one of the only reputable establishments in Port Siraston. There, the group waited for the arrival of Zafar and Krystof so they could plan their next move.

Things get heated on the Emerald Serpent

Arday, 27 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group decides to tackle Tomren's justicar bounty to bring in Ka'theres Moonstalker. Zafar accompanies the group on this mission. Ka'theres ends up being a phoenix-soul sorcerer who is an accomplished spellcaster and nearly kills the party, but Zafar is able to render him unconscious, and Tomren claims his bounty. After the fight, Ubah makes it clear to Tomren that he will no longer accompany him on justicar missions. Tomren, unwilling to force anyone to help him, says he understands.

Truday, 28 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The group meets with Ara Jakata, the captain of the Emerald Serpent, who has agreed to ferry the crew across the Angan ocean for a reasonable fee. The ship sets sail that day, and the adventure on the seas begins.

Norday, 29 Deadtree, 6934 EY: The ship continues sailing southward. The group attracts the attention of an immense dragon turtle, the guardians of the shores of Sarenul, who swims alongside the ship for several tense hours before losing interest and drifting back to the Sarenulian shore.

Taursday, 31 Deadtree, 6934 EY: Another uneventful but pleasant day, but in the evening, the group is ambushed by a gang of five bearded devils and a bone devil who have been sent by Ruzazel to claim Jadeflame from Ubah. Ubah resists the demons and fights them, but is severely injured in the encounter. The devils say this was a warning and that next time Ubah had better be prepared to surrender his weapon. Haseya kills a bearded devil by herself, but nearly dies in the process. Zafar turns on Ubah, infuriated that Haseya, who has become a close friend to Zafar, nearly died, when Ubah only a few days ago expressed a certain amount of cowardice in helping his friends with their troubles. Zafar and Ubah have a brief but fiery argument before Zafar turns his attention to healing Haseya. Misae stays up all night watching over her friend, making sure she recovers.

Oathday, 1 Whitefall, 6934 EY: A day of recovery and awkward silence amongst the group. Haseya receives a letter. Otherwise, an uneventful day of sailing and travel.

Lorday, 2 Whitefall, 6934 EY: A crystalline dragon is spotted portside of the ship and Ara Jakata calls everyone up to see it. He explains the goldrak, or crystalline dragons, are wardens of the oceans and open waters. The group admires the dragon for some time, until a megalodon frightens the dragon out of the water. The dragon attempts to escape, but the attempt is futile; the massive shark catches the dragon out of the air, dragging it underwater for a meal.

Arday, 3 Whitefall, 6934 EY: An uneventful day of sailing to Bratana; the weather becomes more arid.

Truday, 4 Whitefall, 6934 EY: Land is spotted around 1 in the afternoon. By three, the ship has landed safely in Samsandi, gateway to Bratana. Zafar explains that he is leaving the group to ride ahead to Karna to assess the situation and hopefully grease some wheels. The group explores Samsandi, looking for supplies or sight seeing. Arnold encounters a beautiful flower girl and buys out her entire stock; in exchange, he receives a kiss, and a curious memento: an amethyst pin in the shape of a butterfly.

New allies found, and new plans are formed.

Norday, 5 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The day was spent exploring Samsandi. The group converted their gold to electrum, Arnold bought hot weather clothing for the group, and Tomren and Krystof visited the Tomb of Mhal'kazet.

Venday, 6 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group left early in the morning, having an altercation with an abusive noble on the outskirts of town who was treating his wood elven slave very poorly. This soured Haseya's mood for the remainder of the journey to Karna. The rest of the day was spent traveling to Jasserah, where the group arrived late in the evening.

Taursday, 7 Whitefall, 6934 EY: After making a quick visit to the Pario Moska, the group left Jasserah to continue their voyage south to Karna. They began to see the temples and crypts in the Valley of the Zultan to the west. Tomren begged for a detour but was shot down.

Oathday, 8 Whitefall, 6934 EY: Travel to Karna continued. During this day, the group passed by the Tomb of the Shining Zultan, and Krystof explained that it housed the remains of an "albino" sun elf who had went mad and was reviled by the sun elves.

Lorday, 9 Whitefall, 6934 EY: More travel to Karna. On this day the group encountered a human apothecary named Godwin Stafford who was relieved to see fellow outlanders. He was desperate to return home to his wife and sick sister, and the group bought enough of his merchandise to pay his way back home.

Arday, 10 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group arrived in Karna around noon on this day and were immediately taken in by its beauty and the wonders it contained. They bought a horribly translated guide to the city and a map. Their first stop was the Falcon's Perch Inn, where they discovered that Zafar had already purchased rooms for them. They then traveled to the Library of Sjet, and were disappointed to find out that it was only a single, simple tower. They were required to fill out forms that included a waiver of liability, which aroused much suspicion. Finally, they were given small discs that would light up when it was their turn to enter the library.

At this point, the group split up, except for Taegon and Haseya, who explored the city together. Each had their own little mini adventure, described below:

Tomren: Tomren visited the theater district, where he saw the Dancing Djinn, one of the twelve wonders of Karna, and was magically photographed next to it. He was present during the arrival of a foreign dignitary from Realm; an individual of great importance: a member of the Valorous Family. Finally, Tomren received another justicar mission, this time taking him back north to Jasserah.

Taegon: As Taegon traveled with Haseya, he noticed more and more elderly and wealthy sun elves mutter at him, or spit at him, or stare at him with hostility. Eventually, an old elven woman explained to Taegon that he looked like the Shining Zultan. It was revealed that the Shining Zultan was actually an outsider with glowing eyes who was obsessed with accumulating knowledge and eventually went mad. He was entombed with his followers and the knowledge he had accumulated because the sun elves believe it was the knowledge that drove him mad. Taegon learned that the Shining Zultan's name was Taerah ur-Stariiz, and that his long lost grandfather's name—Taeron Stareyes—could not be coincidence.

Arnold: Arnold did indeed have an adventure, but it will be chronicled at a later date.

Haseya: Seething over Misae sneaking off without saying anything, Haseya explored the city with Taegon. Her first encounter was with a wealthy sun elven nobleman and his spoiled son who wanted his father to purchase Ahiga. Haseya politely declined, even when the man offered 5,000 gold pieces for the fox. At this point the man became verbally hostile, shouting epithets and throwing up rude gestures. Haseya held her temper, but as the merchant walked away, another elf approached, this one clad in orange robes and with a bald head. He said he was called Razeer al-Wahl, and that he was a monk of the Hungry Flame. Razeer claimed to be able to see Haseya's inner rage, and that Haseya had wanted to kill the man. Haseya denied the claim, but Razeer insisted upon it. He told Haseya that she was a perfect candidate for his order, and suggested that she seek out the Monastery of the Hungry Flame, south of the Scorpion Wastes.

Later, Haseya and Taegon walked by an alleyway where a handful of urchins were kicking a vulture. Haseya scared the children away, and the vulture, to her surprise, spoke: "Sand Circle. Trouble. Send help." Taegon healed the bird and it flew away, but Haseya knew that going to the Sand Circle was a priority.

Misae: Misae snuck away from the rest of the group, tired of being treated as a child that needed to be monitored at all times. She visited the market district, enjoying the Verdant Square. When she encountered an ice cream vendor, she was quick to try to purchase some—but a tall, handsome sun elven man interrupted, insisting that he pay for her instead. The man introduced himself as Eskandar za-Tavana, and proved to be quite charming. He commented on Misae's beauty, and suggested they get tea sometime. Misae agreed to the date, but before further plans could be made, Eskandar was called away by a magical message from his employer—the Lord of Servitude, who oversees the slave trade in Karna.

That evening, Misae was returning to the Falcon's Perch when she was approached by a man who looked at her as a commodity. He offered 5000 electrum for her and asked who her master was. Misae was quickly getting angry and worried when a sun elven woman swooped in, smacking her across the face and shouting at her for wandering off. The elven man identified this new woman as "Kamaria," and the woman quickly ushered Misae away.

Kamaria apologized for hitting Misae and asked her if she was with "Ubah, Arnold, Tomren and Taegon." Confused, Misae said yes. Kamaria then said she had people she needed to introduce Misae to, and led her away.

Ubah: Ubah was taken in by the moskas of the Parandur. He found himself in a moska devoted to Reti, the ostrich-god of healing and protection. There, he asked many questions of the priests, who eventually suggested to Ubah that he visit Aya Jasheed al-Atar in Khariib.

When the group assembled in the evening, they were worried to discover that Arnold and Misae had not made it back to the inn, and Zafar had yet to check in. The proprietor of the inn informed the group that they had been left a note. This note gave instructions on how to find a secret hideaway where an anonymous individual said they wished to discuss a business proposal, and not to wait for their friends.

The group apprehensively followed the instructions, which led them to the Mouse and Oyster Pub. Here, they found a secret staircase that led underground. What they discovered was indeed a secret hideout—the secret headquarters of the Butterfly, a resistance movement seeking revolution in Bratana.

Immediately, the group recognized Beasts for Peace playing on the stage here, and that the band was accompanied by Arnold. Dancing on one of the tables was Misae and a new friend she and Arnold had made—the flower girl from Samsandi, whose name was Narida sil-Ghaznavi.

Zafar came up to the group and apologized profusely for not contacting them sooner. He dodged questions about himself to introduce the group to the leaders of the Butterfly: Kamara sha-Aridus, and Mitra sha-Najafi. Mitra was an older woman who had a sharp tongue and a clever wit, while Kamaria was very focused and business-oriented. Kamaria explained that the group were known in Karna and considered heroes by the Butterfly because of their exploits in Molentius and the destruction of the Brotherhood of Chains. This act caused a destabilization in the slave trade that the Butterfly hopes to capitalize on to begin their revolution in earnest. The group agreed to help the Butterfly with their movement, and Kamaria explained that they weren't on a strict time table—that remaining unpredictable in their timing was actually an advantage—and that the sands of Bratana would test each and every member of the party in some way and that hopefully these tests would lead the group to allies that would aid the Butterfly.

Misae tried to mend things with Haseya, but Haseya was still furious at her friend. Narida tried to get Misae to sneak out for more fun, but Misae declined, explaining that she couldn't risk Haseya becoming more angry.

Haseya was the first to meet Theletos, a bizarre creature made mostly of crystal but with four spindly arms that separated into eight total hands. The creature communicated via envisaging, giving Haseya mental imagery such as a dove in flight, a child holding out a flower, and a purring kitten. Despite the creature's horrifically odd appearance, its innocent nature endeared it to Haseya. Kamaria approached and explained that the creature just showed up one day, but it had been giving images of breaking chains and freeing slaves, so she thinks it wants to help and has allowed it to remain.

Arnold tried to use the rod of wonder during Haseya and Misae's heart-to-heart speech, but Narida appeared and took the rod away from Arnold, bopping him on the head with it and tucking it away between her breasts. Arnold was stunned when the rod did not return to him as it normally did.

Tomren had a reunion with Emanaya, the felice warlock who helped the group escape initial captivity in the Valley of Chains. It was mixed emotions for Tomren, who was wary of Emanaya's warlock nature but enjoyed her personality. Emanaya explained that she was hear to help the revolution, because she believed in freedom. After a back and forth about using magic "to kill," Emanaya suggested a walk. The two walked the hallways of the Butterfly's underground hideout until they were alone. Emanaya suggested that Tomren had a darkness inside of him and that she could feel it. Tomren continually said he didn't know what she was talking about until Emanaya moved her hand from Tomren's chest to his face, causing his skin to become pallid and his cheekbones to sink in. Tomren quickly pushed her hand away, returning life to his face. Emanaya made the suggestion that Tomren could be rid of this "darkness" if he took a patron. Tomren flatly denied, saying he would not be thrall to another power. Emanaya argued that he was already a thrall—a thrall to the Towers, a thrall to the Empire, and a thrall to death—and then walked away, leaving Tomren to stew in anger and frustration.

With a large handful of missions and leads to pursue, the group agreed that the top priority was helping the Sand Circle druids, who sounded as if they were in trouble. Haseya wanted to leave immediately, but was talked into resting for the night by a concerned Zafar. Taegon, Haseya, and Misae returned to the Falcon's Perch Inn, and the group rested after a very long day.

The Sand Circle isn't everything the group expects it to be.

Truday, 11 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group leaves Karna early in the morning to head south to find the Sand Circle. As sunlight wanes, the group encounters a friendly goat herder named Abbas who invites them to stay at his farmstead overnight in exchange for helping him with his chores. Abbas and his wife Ozra feed the group and Abbas regales them with stories from his adventuring days. He gives them a handful of trinkets and potions he has kept as mementos of those days hoping that they will come in handy for the group's future endeavors.

Norday, 12 Whitefall, 6934 EY: Walking through the wilderness of the Bratanan deserts south of the Gypparra mountain range, the group eventually discovers an enormous sandstorm. Althoug initially worried that this natural disaster would move their way, Tomren studies it from afar to see if it is moving. As he discerns that it is remaining still, Haseya knows instinctively that that is where the Sand Circle Grove is hidden.

The group enters into the sandstorm, where they manage for a while, but eventually lose Misae, who collapses and fades from vision. Arnold is swept away by the powerful winds. Haseya desperately tries to keep everyone together by tying rope. Ubah and Taegon both lose consciousness, and Haseya attempts to pull them out of the storm, but eventually gives in to the fury of the storm. Tomren is the only one standing and makes a desperate dash for the eye of the storm. He nearly makes it, but finally loses strength and consciousness.

The group awakens to find they are being cared for by a dwarven druid. A tall, muscular sun elven woman enters the mud hut they are in and introduces herself as Sift il-Abreen, demanding to know what the group is doing in the Sand Circle. The group is confused, as they had been under the impression that the Sand Circle needed help. Sift arrogantly explains that the Sand Circle is composed of only the fittest and finest druids in the world and would never have need to 'call for help.' She offers to let the group meet the archdruid, which Haseya initially declines. Sift responds by calling it the cowardly way, and Haseya gets pissed and agrees to meet the archdruid.

The group is led into the Sand Circle's heart-tree, which is a gargantuan cactus that has been hollowed out and used as a place to house the majority of the druids here. Walking a spiral staircase all the way to the top, they end up in a lounge room occupied by a gnomish woman with wild green hair curled up with an enormous clouded leopard. Sift introduces the group to the gnome, who is named Archdruidess Daphissa Beestinger. Daphissa is just as arrogant and haughty as her subordinates, and quickly puts to rest any notion that the Sand Circle needs help. Sift mentions that perhaps this confusion has to do with "that human druid" who came through a few weeks ago. Daphissa is furious that Sift has spoken out of turn, but is trapped by the group who demand to know what's going on.

Daphissa explains that Moras came through, and he was sent on a trial to prove himself. She refuses to tell the group where they sent him unless they can prove their strength by receiving a venomscar tattoo. Many of the group volunteer for this task, but because Arnold seems the most eager, he is chosen first. Because of his dwarven resilience, Arnold takes the venomscar tattoo without losing consciousness. Daphissa seems angry, but is true to her word, and tells the group that she sent Moras to Karamezra to steal a gyppa egg.

The group set out immediately southward to find Karamezra, making their way through the mountainous terrain of Gypparra. Eventually, it becomes obvious they will not find the city before nightfall, and they set up camp. Tomren has a dream where he meets a talking crow named Lot.

During Misae's night watch, the ground begins to rumble and quake. Misae moves to be at the ready just as an enormous dune worm burrows through the rock and knocks down Haseya's tent, attempting to eat the woman inside. Another dune worm attacks Tomren in his tent, and a battle ensues with the group exiting the victor.

As the group huddles and patches up their wounds, they are suddenly visited by a half-dozen winged scavengers. These gyppa, vulturefolk, work quickly to hack into the savory meats of the freshly-killed dune worms. They make snarky comments to the group, until their attention is caught when they begin to get asked about Moras. When the group shows sympathy toward the gyppa, agreeing that stealing their eggs is wrong, the gyppa reluctantly agree to show them the way to Karamezra.

Venday, 13 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group travels through the night and arrives in Karamezra, exhausted. They learn that Karamezra is an entire city carved into a cliff face. Because the gyppa can fly, there are no ropes, ladders, or stairs to scale the cliff. A few consider scaling the cliff face, but Haseya transforms into a crow and flies to the top of the cliff, where it plateaus into a courtyard leading up to a magnificent palace, also carved into a cliffside. There, she finds Moras in a cage, who urgently shoos her away, saying he's thankful help has come but that if it looks like druids are helping him then the gyppa will turn their wrath on the Sand Circle and, while the Sand Circle are "dicks," he doesn't want to see anyone die on his account.

Tomren produces a 24-foot ladder from his robe of useful items and uses it to scale the cliffside city. The rest of the group follows behind him and eventually reach the top, exhausted and breathless. The guards here demand to know what's going on, and with a few quick words from Arnold, the group is granted an audience with Kha Ga Jakadi, leader of Karamezra.

Ga Jakadi proves to be a menacing, vicious, and angry creature who has every intention of eating Moras after several days of suffering. He goes on at length about his hatred for sun elves and the druids, and how their stealing gyppa eggs as sport could lead to the ruination of his very short-lived people. The group shows sympathy for his plight, and Ga Jakadi is surprised. He reluctantly agrees to release Moras if the group will go to a village called Arakoy, the last village to rebuff Ga Jakadi's attempts at unification, and serve as his emissaries to convince them to join his nation. He also knows they have recently captured a king vulture and desires the bird as a mount, and says the group should return with this animal as proof of their successful mission. The group is allowed to stay in the palace that day and evening to recoup and sleep. Arnold has a dream where he meets a rose-colored dragon that calls itself "The Warden."

Taursday, 14 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group set out in the morning westward to find the village of Arakoy. After nine hours of arduous and perilous travel, the group finds what they think is Arakoy—but they find it in absolute shambles. The buildings are smoldering ruins, and gyppa corpses are strewn about, some burned, some half eaten. As the heroes begin to piece together what happened here, a terrible roar can be heard alongside the beating of wings, and a drakirant—a corrupted orange dragon, a dragon of zeal—lands near them, launching into a pompous tirade before issuing an attack.

A new crisis threatens to break newly-formed bonds.

Taursday, 14 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The battle with Qolzythirant, the pale orange dragon, begins. Haseya is quick to cast offensive spells while Tomren attempts to blind the dragon. Tomren's spell fails, but he is successful in weakening the creature. When he does, his face becomes sunken and pale, and Haseya notices.

Misae quickly runs to the device keeping the giant vulture held in a cage high overhead. After determining it would take too long to crank it down safely, she cuts the cable, sending the cage hurtling downward. The impact injures the vulture, but also breaks open the door. The king vulture, three times the size a man, steps out and begins attacking the dragon.

Taegon teleports on top of the dragon and, with his mythril katana, begins slashing into the beast. The dragon hurtles upward 80 feet in the air, corkscrewing as it flies to shake off Taegon, but Taegon holds fast.

As the dragon rights itself, Taegon pulls out his katana and infuses it with the holy powers of his deity, slamming it into the base of the dragon's neck. The dragon slumps in the air and Taegon finds himself plummeting toward the ground in a deadfall.

Quickly, Haseya commands the king vulture to meet Taegon midair, saving him from certain death. The giant bird rockets upward, grabbing Taegon free from the dead dragon as the corpse falls to the ground, katana still lodged in its skull.

Qolzythirant hits the ground with a tremendous boom. The vulture lands beside it gracefully, and Taegon tumbles out of the vulture's grasp, springing to his feet and pulling his weapon free of the freshly-slain dragon.

Haseya spoke with the vulture, who knows of Ga Jakadi and agrees to serve him as his mount. The group began dismantling the dragon body, scavenging it for all manner of organs and parts. Misae, a little grossed out by the process, wanders the ruins of Arakoy and finds a dead gyppa woman draped over a nest containing four eggs. One has been broken, but three are intact. Misae calls for Haseya, and Haseya collects the eggs, delicately holding them in her papoose.

Misae continues exploring Arakoy and finds Qolzythirant's "hoard," a smattering of coins and woven relics. Within this hoard is also a suit of chitinous full plate—after casting identify, it is revealed to be made from the carapace of the tlincalli, the scorpionfolk of the eastern wastes. Taegon claims the armor as his.

The group makes their way back to Karamezra with the help of the king vulture. Taegon and Tomren ride back on Sunshine, as the king vulture refuses to touch it.

Oathday, 15 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group arrives back in Karamezra and present the king vulture to Ga Jakadi. He lets Moras go as promised and names the vulture "sneaky bear" in his own tongue after Misae and Haseya. Moras hugs everyone and acts like an idiot. The group flies back to the Sand Circle so Moras can confront them. Moras gives them a scathing lecture, and Daphissa apologizes for her actions, saying she will lend her help to the group. Just then, Ga Jakadi arrives in the circle, worried about the "traitorous druids." The druids are furious that a gyppa is within their midst, and Ga Jakadi is furious that it appears an alliance is being forged. The group quickly sides with the gyppa, and the druids open an attack on the Kha and his mount, and exile the group. Sebba Kurtbach, the timid dwarven druid, leaves with the group, disgusted by her archdruid's actions.

The group returns to Abbas's farmstead with Moras and Sebba in tow. They see smoke on the horizon and rush to investigate. They are relieved to find Abbas and Ozra fine and healthy, burning a large bonfire, as the fifteenth of Whitefall is the Day of Flames in Bratana. They are fed ice cream and sweets and offered a boat ride back to Karna.

They arrive in Karna around eight in the evening. Haseya confronts Tomren about how he looked sick when he cast spells, but Tomren claimed to know nothing about it. Moras wonders why Tomren and Haseya went off to be alone and asks Misae if they're "a thing." Misae is immediately suspicious of Moras's intentions and Moras quickly becomes flustered.

Once the group arrives at the Butterfly hideout, Narida invites Misae out to explore Karna. Misae agrees, and the two go out for a night of drinking and mischief. The night ends with Narida saying she lost her mother and is fighting to free the slaves so nobody has to go through what she went through. Drunk and misreading the moment, Narida tries to kiss Misae, who politely rebuffs her. Narida laughs it off and apologizes, and the two girls return to the base, where Haseya is waiting with worry and anger. Narida disappears into Arnold's room and doesn't come out until morning.

That evening, Taegon has a dream that he is lost at sea on a boat in a storm. He hears the Lady of Light calling for him and for his aid.

Arday, 17 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group begins their journey to Jasserah to complete Tomren's next justicar contract. Before leaving, Haseya meets with a Butterfly-friendly leatherworker to commission a suit of dragon scale mail out of the scales collected from Qolzythirant. The rest of the day is spent in travel.

Truday, 18 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group arrives on the outskirts of Jasserah as the sun is setting. The address leads Tomren to a small goat farm, where a father and his two daughters are finishing daily chores. Upon seeing Tomren, the father commands the daughters to go inside, and he rushes behind them. Tomren casts hold person and freezes the man, who is screaming profanities at Tomren. Eventually, the man breaks free of the hold, and runs inside, grabbing a scimitar.

It is revealed that Tomren's target is Neema il-Aspis, a 9-year-old sun elven girl. Misae is immediately shocked and furious about this, and refuses to allow Tomren to continue. The man begins attacking, slashing at Misae, Tomren, and Taegon. Misae forces Haseya inside the house, where the mother and sister of Neema are terrified of the massive bear creature that has appeared before them.

The session ends here, with the group splintered. Tomren is insistent on completing his duty, while Taegon seems to be searching for a compromise and Haseya and Misae are set squarely against him. The entire Aspis family is furious and terrified, and there doesn't appear to be a good solution in sight.

Mummy lords are dicks, you guys.

Truday, 18 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The standstill at the farmstead continued. Arnold is approached by one of the farmers' neighbors, who seems suspicious, but Arnold uses suggestion to compel the man to continue walking. Tensions flare between Tomren and the duo of Haseya and Misae until it appears blows might be exchanged. Arnold enters the home and attempts to mediate between the two groups. Eventually, a compromise is agreed upon: the group will retreat back to Jasserah for now, search for an answer in the Library of Sjet when they gain entrance, and revisit this problem after they've researched the nature of the Weaveborn. The group returns to Jasserah, get rooms at the Shining Gem Inn, and get incredibly drunk.

Norday, 19 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group spends a day recovering from bad nightmares and worse hangovers. Arnold and Tomren explore the Pario Moska again since they're in town.

Venday, 20 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group sets out for the crypt of the Shining Zultan. They make camp off the roadside at nightfall. Ubah has a cryptic dream about his grandfather, Sindoro.

Taursday, 21 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group travels through the open wastes to arrive at the Tomb of the Shining Zultan. As they draw closer, their food suddenly spoils and the water in their canteens evaporates. Taegon hears his name spoken on the wind, and, after puzzling how to enter the crypt, the whispered words instruct him to spill his blood. He does so, and the door opens.

The inside of the crypt is a horror show, with signs that people had been buried alive here very evident. A ghastly cackling can be heard throughout the entire complex, and all of the dungeon is black as night. The first room the group enters is guarded by a pair of minotaur skeletons and an animated mummy. This proves to be a devastating battle for the group, who manage to survive it but require a short rest afterward.

During the short rest, an evil entity infiltrates Misae's mind and tears her apart from within, leaving her spasming on the ground and babbling incoherently. This episode lasts for almost ten minutes, and Haseya attempts to soothe her friend.

The group carries on, finding nothing in this room, and doubling back to another series of rooms where they find a statue of a naked elven woman bent over a pool of water. Arnold drinks the water and nearly becomes petrified, and is scolded by Haseya for acting recklessly. The group enters the next room where they see strange symbols on the wall. Arnold begins to cast comprehend languages and Misae explores the rest of the chamber. Misae stumbles across an altar, upon which are two skulls and a pile of coins. The skulls animate, revealing themselves to be flameskulls, and immediately attack Misae. This fight proves to be even more lethal than the last, nearly claiming the lives of the group as they are pummeled by a barrage of fire bolts and fire balls. Eventually, these skulls are shattered, and the group places their remains in the petrifying pool of water, as Haseya knows that these creatures reanimate after an hour.

Taegon knows that certain creatures of particular power levels can have a corrupting influence on their lairs. This is usually the case with ancient dragons, dread vampires, or demon princes, but it also extends to mummy lords. He presumes that a mummy lord is responsible for the madness that rest induces and the spoiling of their foodstuff. Whether or not this mummy lord is indeed the Shining Zultan, and, by extension, Taegon's grandfather, nobody dares answer. Having exhausted their abilities, the group decides to risk a night of sleep in the crypt.

Oathday, 22 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group's slumber is wracked with horrifying nightmares. Haseya and Arnold steel themselves against this mental onslaught, but Taegon, Tomren and Misae wake up with temporary insanity: Taegon and Tomren are haunted by hallucinations, and Misae has lost the ability to speak altogether. It becomes apparent that sleeping in this crypt is a danger in and of itself, and the group begins to worry if they will even make it out alive.

The continued adventures in the Crypt of the Shining Zultan

Flashback: Ubah informs the group that he feels the pull back to the Olvani Islands. He thinks he is ready to go back and help his people. Jadeflame considers this a betrayal and pulls out of Ubah, claiming Misae as its new master—although it shows interest in Haseya as well. Misae is later visited in her dreams by Donkey, who asks for reassurance that their plan to make their own path is still in effect. Misae agrees to it.

Lorday, 23 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group awakens after a night of horrifying nightmares that have shattered the minds of Tomren and Taegon, who begin to hallucinate. The group finds the flameskulls in the next room, fully reformed and sentient but petrified. They do not attack, but explain that they have instruction to guard the room they were taken from. There is a truce between the party and the skulls as they switch rooms.

The group explores the dungeon again and finds a secret door they missed that leads to a room full of statues. Misae investigates an owl head on the wall which causes a large statue of Taeron to attack Taegon. After the fight, the group finds a secret door in the owl head statue. They crawl through a crawlspace to a room with a pool of magical water. They deduce that this water enchants arrows with the Weave—they enchant an arrow of each color of the Weave, and Misae makes plans to share these arrows with Arnold.

The group finds several cyphers written on the walls of these chambers and slowly begin to piece together what the writing in the flameskull chamber might say. The session is ended with a combat encounter with a sarcophagus slime and the recovery of a precious and iconic piece of adventuring gear— a bag of holding.

Things grow tense in the Shining Zultan's crypt.

Oathday, 22 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group finally pieces together the cypher and returns to the room with the puzzle which commands them to speak aloud the name of the Lady of Light. Taegon says, "Tarathiel," and a doorway opens into a new room. This room is a puzzle room where the group must work together to construct a bridge of hardened light for Taegon to cross. After solving the puzzle, the group enters the final chamber: the resting place of Taerah ur-Stariiz, Taeron Stareyes, the Shining Zultan.

The Shining Zultan wastes no time in attacking the group, insulting their attempts to defend themselves as he wreaks havoc on their ranks. The group begins to question their ability to handle this threat, and their peril is cemented when Tomren is killed by the Shining Zultan, reduced to a pile of ash. The entire group might have lost their lives here, were it not for Taeron recognizing his blood inside of Taegon.

Taeron halted his assault and, using his incredible power, returned Tomren to the land of the living. He insisted on knowing what Taegon had come for. After a very tense back-and-forth, Taegon and company agreed to allow Taeron to walk the world free once more in exchange for the use of his armies in the upcoming battle against the zultanate. Taegon made a second deal—a portion of his lifeblood in exchange for the secrets Taeron found in the library of Sjet. This left Taegon crippled and weak, and when he read through the findings, he was frustrated and despaired to learn he had been deceived—nothing in Taeron's findings proved useful beyond the revelation of a single word—eladrin—a word that meant nothing to anyone in the group, and could mean anything.

The Shining Zultan departed his tomb, and the group did so as well shortly after. They returned to the road, where they camped for the night. Taegon had a dream of another life this night, and dreamed of the threat of an encroaching darkness.

Arday, 24 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group arrives back in Bratana around ten in the morning. They travel to the Falcon's Perch Inn where they clean up, eat, and then seek out the Butterfly. They encounter Zafar who tells Haseya and Misae that Kamaria, although willing to allow the group to continue experiencing Bratana in their own time, is privately growing restless and is ready to make the first move. Haseya agrees to meet with Kamaria that evening. Meanwhile, Tomren and Arnold make the attempt to cheer up a thoroughly demoralized Taegon by dragging him to see one of the wonders of Karna—The Spire of Pakonef, a crystalline structure given to Bratana by Espagor. Although Tomren and Arnold enjoy themselves, it does little to ease Taegon's troubles.

At the Butterfly hideout, Moras approaches Misae with a gift in the hopes of having a more comfortable, less intimidating dynamic in their friendship. The gift is a briefcase full of dozens of tiny hats for Misae to put on Ahiga. Misae admits that it's a good gift, but also warns Moras that she will continue to watch him because he has feelings for Haseya. Moras blusters for a bit before finally admitting the possibility that he does indeed have feelings for Misae's friend. He asks Misae for advice, and she tells him not to waste away his days sitting at the free bar drinking. Moras immediately leaves the hideout at this suggestion.

Tomren and Haseya then travel back to the Falcon's Perch Inn to find Taegon. Taegon and Haseya have a meaningful heart to heart conversation about what happened, and the guilt that Taegon carries with him now that he let an evil entity out into the world. Haseya gives him the words spoken to her by an old mentor—if you seek atonement for something, a time will come when your chance of redemption will make itself known. Taegon thanks Haseya for always being the guiding light of the group, which seems to touch Haseya. Tomren then attempts a physical examination of Taegon, but Taegon is too weak both physically and emotionally to tolerate much of an examination.

Later, at the Butterfly, it occurs to Haseya that she may be able to help Taegon's recovery. She uses a restoration spell which helps regrow Taegon's atrophied muscles. Although still weary and worn, Taegon feels he will be back to normal condition after a good sleep. The group then approaches Kamaria, Zafar and Mitra and let them know they are ready to discuss plans for the first attack.

Two hours later, a war council has been convened including Kamaria, Mitra, Zafar, Narida, Emanaya, Moras, Krystof, and the trumpet player for Beasts for Peace, a goblin named Blaster.

Kamaria explains that, to this point, Karna has heard whispers of the Butterfly but a disinformation campaign by the zultanate has successfully kept them as mere legend. Kamaria says the first step in their revolution needs to be sending a message to the slaves to let them know that the Butterfly is real and that it is on the move. To this end, she has devised a plan to destroy the Flesh Markets, the marketplace where slaves are auctioned off.

This plan is composed of four teams: black team, red team, violet team, and white team. Black team consists of Misae, Narida, and Blaster, and it is up to Misae and Narida to successfully stealth Blaster into location to place and arm four explosive devices that will level the markets. Once the last device has been set, Narida is to send a magical flare that will alert the other teams to get into position. White team—Moras, Kamaria, and Zafar—will then begin funneling innocents and slaves out of the area—Kamaria wants to ensure that the Butterfly is not seen as a terrorist organization, and wants to preserve as many innocent lives as possible. Once the explosions have detonated, the violet team—Arnold, Haseya, and Emanaya—is to begin Weaving a magical symbol that is primarily a butterfly but can be embelished in any way the casters see fit. The more hopeful and inspirational of a message they send, the more hearts they will impact. Kamaria hopes the combination of Haseya's natural druidcraft, Arnold's arcane prestidigitation, and Emanaya's eldritch thaumaturgy will create a lasting, enduring symbol and message for everyone in Bratana. Lastly, a wave of guards will likely be descending on the markets to apprehend and eliminate those who made the attack. It falls to red team—Taegon, Tomren, and Krystof—to hold off these guards for as long as they possibly can. It will be up to their discretion when to fall back, but Kamaria made it clear that the more time they can buy violet team, the better message that violet team can create.

Tomren expressed issue with taking lives. Kamaria flatly explained that this is a declaration of war, and in war, lives are lost. Tomren took issue with this, when Krystof, who was very drunk, began taunting Tomren. The taunts turned sour and eventually the entire table turned on Krystof, who ceased the taunting, turning inward, but not before saying to Tomren, "I will show you what it means to be a wizard, whether you truly are one or not."

Taegon had a dream about the Lady of Light and a foreign land. She told Taegon it was time to return home. Misae encountered an entity in her dreams dressed in the skin of her dead mother. She quickly identified it as Ruzazel, the demon who hounded Ubah, who now seeks the power of Jadeflame. Misae was quick to rebuff Ruzazel, and Ruzazel made it clear that the game of cat-and-mouse was still on, despite Ubah's bowing out.

Some things happened involving dragonflies and anal sex that I'm really not going to get further into here but thought I would mention. God damn it, Arnold.

The group left out bread and fish on their window sills in observance of the Bratanan holiday of fodrogan. When they awoke, Misae had attracted a crane, which represented the sun; Haseya attracted a dopey ostrich, which represented protection and healing; Arnold attracted an owl, which represents wisdom; Taegon attracted a falcon, which represents honor and valor; and Tomren attracted a vulture, which represents death.

Things begin heating up in Karna.

Truday, 25 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The group plans and prepares for their first mission as Butterfly operatives. At 1:30, they enter the markets incognito, while Narida, Misae, and an invisible Blaster work their way behind the scenes to begin placing the explosives.

While they do this, the other teams mill about in the plaza in front of the slave stages. Tomren buys a mango the size of a basketball and eats the entire thing, and a few electrum pieces are given to a blind man whose parrot says a series of very cryptic "futures."

The behind the scenes portion goes smoothly at first, with Blaster arming the first and second bombs without problems. While at the second tent, Narida and Misae arouse the attention of a guard. Narida attempts to flirt her way out of the problem, but fails, and is backhanded by the guard. Without much time to think, Misae slits the guards throat, assassinating him quickly. They hide the body in a barrel of wine and make their way to the third tent.

At the third tent, the women see two pleasure slaves lounging on pillows, almost entirely nude. Narida enters the tent with the invisible Blaster and tells Misae to come with. Narida begins speaking with the slaves to put them at ease—Misae cannot speak the language but suspects that Narida is flirting. Blaster is taking an abnormally long time, so Misae goes to ask what's taking so long. At that precise moment, Blaster makes a mistake arming the bomb and the device explodes, killing the slaves in the tent and the slaves on the stage and sending the plaza into a panic. The other teams stare in horror and shock, and swiftly move to begin executing the plan early.

Misae finds herself unscathed, but realizes it is because Narida has used herself as a shield to protect her. Narida is badly injured, but mobile—Blaster, however, appears to have been torn nearly in two, his legs barely more than shreds of flesh. Narida says that Misae must arm the final bomb on her own, and that Narida needs to get Blaster back to headquarters immediately for healing.

White team begins to escort innocents out of the area, while violet team begins to construct their message. Emanaya makes a violet butterfly out of eldritch energy, augments Haseya's storms, and writes a message in high elven - "You are free now." Haseya causes stormclouds to gather, grows an abundance of flora that overtakes the flesh markets, and summons forth bees, butterflies, and fireflies to swarm around the plantlife and the symbol. Arnold uses a magic arrow to cause a wall of brambles and roots to surround the symbol, then encapsulates the butterfly in a heart of blue butterflies, and causes music to pour out of Haseya's flowers- a song of salvation and hope.

Misae makes her way to the fourth tent and sets the bomb, but is stopped by a guard—a guard who reveals themselves to be none other than Eskandar za-Tavana. Eskandar seems confused that Misae is here and is part of the Butterfly. He forces her into a swordfight, offering the use of one of his scimitars. It is apparent that Misae is outmatched in hand-to-hand combat, but Eskandar makes no grand attempt to injure Misae. Eventually, a detachment of cataphracts finds the guard captain, and he takes Misae's dagger, injuring himself with a stab wound to the gut and commanding her to run. Unsure what to make of any of this, Misae flees back to the Butterfly headquarters.

Red team staved off the waves of attackers, killing only one of them while putting the rest to sleep (or, in one case, pinning a man under his horse by putting his horse to sleep.) Krystof used the telekinesis spell to create a flying, flaming battering ram, and Taegon slashed through the ranks.

All of the Pathseekers then decided to launch the symbol into the sky and flee, and all made it away safely.

Norday, 26 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The operation was a resounding success who's effects are felt all throughout Bratana. Slave revolts and riots break out and cause a police state lockdown to occur in Karna for the next two days. Enough attention is drawn to the Butterfly that the size of the organization expands rapidly, causing need for two new hideouts to open up—one under the Falcon's Perch and one in the Grey Falcon Inn.

During this day, Tomren goes to check on Sunshine to find that the creatures' extended presence in the stables has caused an aura of corruption that is withering the feed, rotting the wood of the stables, and sapping the life energies from the horses. Tomren tries to move Sunshine to the other side of the stable but is caught by the stable boy who fetches the innkeeper. The innkeeper then gets it out of Tomren that this was the result of Sunshine and demands that Sunshine be removed. Tomren fights back, but eventually relents when the innkeeper agrees to have the Butterfly act as an intermediary in the dispute. Butterfly agents arrive and move Sunshine to the sewers of Karna.

Tomren surveys the death and rot left by Sunshine and gathers that it is an infusion of black weave. He uses his arcane ability to extract the Weave and pull it into himself, which nearly kills him. Quickly, he is rushed inside, where Krystof explains that it will take about a week of bed rest for Tomren to recover from this, during which Tomren will suffer excruciating pain the entire time and will be barely able to eat, drink or sleep.

That night, while trying to find sleep, Tomren has a fever dream of climbing an icy mountain of bones while the raven Lot mocks his attempts.

Venday, 27 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The streets of Karna are still unsafe this day. In the evening, Haseya has a dream where she sees a large bear who takes her to a tropical island. She sees some ruins and senses frustration from the entity that communication is difficult.

Taursday, 28 Whitefall, 6934 EY: The streets are finally cleared on this day. Misae awakens to the innkeeper knocking on her door and telling her she has a visitor. Misae goes downstairs to find Eskandar waiting for her, wanting to take her on the promised date. Misae consults with Haseya, and Taegon threatens Eskandar. Eskandar laughs off Taegon's threats, saying he is not intimidated by him. Haseya allows Misae two hours, and also threatens Eskandar—Eskandar tells Haseya as well that he does not intimidate. Zafar also encounters Eskandar—Eskandar calls Zafar 'Zaffi' and seems to know him. Zafar does not seem happy to see him.

What follows is half a pleasant date, half an extremely awkward date. Eskandar is a gentleman, pays for lunch, takes Misae somewhere romantic, and stays engaged and interested in who Misae is, where she came from, and what makes her Misae. Misae in turn is confused because they definitely fought each other a few days ago and she can't reconcile dating someone who works for the Lord of Servitude. Eskandar explains that his brother, Javad, was killed during a slave revolt, and since then he has sworn to ensure that the status quo be kept. While walking around the Cascading Fountains, Misae does allow a small amount of affection to be shown despite her misgivings, allowing Eskandar to take her hand as they walk.

True to his word, Eskandar returns Misae to the Falcon's Perch Inn before the two hours are up, unscathed and unharmed. Misae is left wholly confused about the events of the past few days.

Oathday, 29 Whitefall, 6934 EY: Tomren continues to recover. Taegon goes to a jeweler with Arnold following as a translator and has a few items commissioned. The jewelers tell Taegon and Arnold to return the following day. Haseya and Misae both speak with Zafar about Eskandar. He remains evasive as ever, saying only that Eskandar is incorrugible, and is a trouble maker.

Lorday, 30 Whitefall, 6934 EY: Taegon has crafted a cloak pin for Tomren that is blessed in holy water and prayers to Tarathiel to shield Tomren from undeath. Tomren explains that undeath is kind of his thing, and Taegon points out that every time Tomren meddles with it it almost kills him. Taegon also presents Misae with a medallion to wear around her neck, blessed with the protection of Tarathiel, in the hopes that it will keep the demon Ruzazel out of her head. Misae expresses interest in Tarathiel, explaining that sun symbology has been following her quite a bit the past few days.

Arnold then reveals he had a silver cock-and-balls secretly commissioned for Taegon and finds it extremely hilarious. Haseya offers some suggestions of where Arnold can shove it, which gives him a few ideas, and he goes to find Narida.

Arday, 31 Whitefall, 6935 EY: With Tomren hale at last, the group decides they are ready to begin the second mission for the Butterfly. This time, they learn from Kamaria, blood must be spilled. The message has been sent but they have not bared their teeth. Kamaria wants the head of Vessa za-Farahani—the Lord of Servitude. Tomren and Haseya seem to balk at the idea of assassination, but Kamaria is insistent. To further complicate the matter, Haseya reveals a secret told to her days ago by Zafar: that Vessi za-Farahani is not only the Lord of Servitude, but also Zafar's father.

Of assassinations and trials.

Truday, 1 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The assassination attempt on Vessi za-Farahani begins. Taegon makes himself look incredibly competent with a series of successful actions, but the group's infiltration plan falls apart fairly quickly once they are inside the house, and many guards are slain. Haseya adopts two new animals forms: giant rattlesnake and dune scorpion. The Pathseekers fight their way to Vessi's personal office, where the accomplished mage begins doling out arcane punishment. Vessi is not a soldier, however, and quickly yields to the groups' martial prowess. Zafar then enters with Falconsong drawn, pronouncing Vessi guilty and that he must pay for his crimes. It is implied that Zafar lost a lover to his fathers' machinations, and then the paladin beheads his father in one strike. Eskandar watches but does not stop it, and kisses Misae on her way out the door. The group flees the za-Farahani estate, taking horses with them.

Norday, 2 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The group recovers from their previous adventures. Narida, having sustained major damage in the assassination attempt, sticks to bedrest. Misae pays a handsome amount of electrum for ornate, gorgeous ear jewelry worthy of royalty. She gives Narida one and keeps the other for herself as a symbol of their friendship. Narida is overcome with emotion and weeps; she never knew, as a slave child, that she would one day own such beautiful things, or have such wonderful friends.

Venday, 3 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The group begins the arduous and dangerous journey across the desert wastes in search of the Monastery of the Hungry Flame.

Taursday, 4 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The group finds the monastery on this day, but discovers it is protected by a mirage illusion. After meditating for six hours and sustaining an extreme level of heat exhaustion, Haseya is able to determine the "true" monastery. They arrive there at one in the morning. Flustered monks quickly awaken to greet their new guests, showing them to their rooms and insisting that they rest up before they begin their trials.

Oathsday, 5 Newbirth, 6935 EY: This is a day of rest at the monastery as Haseya sleeps off her heat exhaustion.

Lorday, 6 Newbirth, 6935 EY: Another day of rest at the monastery. The seeming leader of the monastery, a handsome sun elf named Sifu Korush sol-Alamaz, investigates everyones' potential to take the trials, and determines neither Tomren nor Taegon are capable, but the other three are.

Arday, 7 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The Trial of Flames. Arnold, Haseya and Misae undergo a series of tests that challenge their strength, constitution, dexterity, wisdom, intelligence, and charisma. In the end, all three of the candidates pass, releasing their "inner fire." Arnold and Misae gain access to new fire-based abilities, but Haseya's flame remains locked away. Sifu Korush suggests speaking with Matilda Greenburrow, the grandmaster of their order. Additionally, each initiate gets parts of their hair shaven in a ritual that makes them official initiates of the hungry flame: Misae gets a side shave, Haseya gets an arm shaved into what looks like a tattoo sleeve, and Arnold gets a mohawk.

Meanwhile, Tomren and Taegon are led to a room of initiates who have yet to fully complete the initiation. Bored and unsure of their future, these initiates have created a number of gambling games and invite Tomren and Taegon to play along. Taegon declines, but Tomren rapidly loses a geat deal of money on the first two games before making it back by betting on a bearded dragon race. He also wins the bearded dragon that won the race, a grumpy, bug-loving reptile named Aswad.

Haseya is led to the grandmaster's room and discovers that Matilda Greenburrow is in fact an elderly halfron woman. The woman is very cordial and sweet to Haseya. She is affectionate toward Ahiga and offers Haseya some tea. Matilda then begins trying to draw out Haseya's anger. She begins by striking Haseya with her cane, but pain does not bring the anger out. Matilda shows Haseya a painting of the Razing of the Graywald, and asks probing, pointed questions abotu Haseya's guilt for her perceived failure. This hurts Haseya but does not draw out her anger. Matilda then begins probing into Haseya's personal history, sensing a pattern of loss. She asks Haseya if perhaps Haseya thinks she lost these things because she simply didn't deserve them. This particular sentence hits Haseya the hardest, and she strikes again at the woman, this time tearing her braid free but not hitting flesh. Finally, as a desperate last resort, Matilda attacks Ahiga, throwing a shuriken that pins the fox's ear to the wall. Fully enraged, Haseya swipes at Matilda. Her claws become pure fire, and her strike leaves a scar across the length of the elderly halfron's face. Matilda is pleased that the inner fire is released and apologizes profusely for what she had said and done to get it to come out—she says her words were "poisoned" and "false" and only meant to bring out Haseya's strengths. But Haseya saw too many truths in Matilda's words, and it left her emotionally drained and ready to leave the monastery.

Truday, 8 Newbirth, 6935 EY: Travel back through the wastes and to Karna occurred on this day.

Norday, 9 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The group arrives in Karna and drinks copiously. They wash away the sweat and grime of desert travel. Misae gets very drunk and ogles Taegon in a wet bathrobe, but Taegon doesn't seem to notice the new attention. The group is summoned by Kamaria, but decide to put it off until the following day. Haseya's dragon scale mail is finally completed, and she dons it, feeling foolish and sure that she looks stupid—the rest of the group is wowed by how striking and intimidating it makes her, however.

Venday, 10 Newbirth, 6935 EY: Kamaria assembles the group for what will be one of the final moves by the Butterfly—a strike force to liberate the slaves of Karna and assemble them in Falconshrine, the secret Butterfly base outside of the city limits of Karna. Taegon, Krystof and Thunder are chosen to infiltrate the za-Ifrit Estate, home to warrior slaves who respond to strength. Narida, Haseya and Misae are chosen to infiltrate the za-Ghara Estate, where pleasure slaves are kept that need to hear from other women who may convince the pampered slaves that freedom is preferable to a life of comfortable servitude. Arnold, Moras, and Kamaria herself will infiltrate the za-Ashtani Estate, where the most broken slaves in the land are housed. These slaves need to be reminded of their humanity, and between Arnold's music, Kamaria's skills as a diplomat and an orator, and Moras's natural empathy, Kamaria believes many lives can be saved. Finally, Tomren, Sebba, and Emanaya are chosen to infiltrate the za-Darvish Estate, where slaves are taught to be tutors and scholars for young nobility. Learned slaves are a rarity and Kamaria believes releasing them from their binds would prove invaluable to the resistance.

Before the group begins this mission, Emanaya confronts Tomren, asking him if he "hates her, fears her, or both," because he always acts distant toward her. Tomren defends himself by pointing out she is a warlock who knew his secret as a blackborn. Emanaya then tells Tomren her life story, about how the felice in the Dead Lands are persecuted by the pious men that live there, how they are often executed, raped, or both, and how a vicious hate crime left her mother acid-burned and blind. Emanaya explained she was abducted by a Bishop who chained her in the basement and used her body in unspeakable ways, and it was at that time that she was confronted by infernal whispers offering her untold power. She took the power to ensure she could protect her mother and killed the bishop.

Tomren wasn't convinced that warlocks weren't trouble, but the conversation opened his eyes more to Emanaya's particular situation. He apologized to the woman, and seemed interested in improving their relationship.

Things get dark for the lady Pathseekers, but a new light is found as the rebellion comes to a head.

Venday, 10 Newbirth, 6935 EY into Taursday, 11 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The group split into four teams to rescue slaves from slave compounds. Although the plan went as expected for Tomren, Taegon, and Arnold's teams, Haseya and Misae's team sprung a trap by speaking to a wood elven slave named Little Duck, leaving them caught and at the mercy of Darice il-Kassem, the captain of the cataphracts, and Melchoir za-Khanzar, the dervish general.

Melchoir and Darice led the captured Haseya, Misae and Narida to the Electrum Palace, where they were taken by Mage-Lord Arshad za-Rajafi into the throne room of the zultan himself, Peri ur-Nammuz. Whispering to the mage-lord his instruction, it was revealed that Little Duck would be reassigned as she was "of no use to the zultan," that Narida was considered gutter trash and would be given to the guards as a treat, and that Misae should be prepped for the zultan's harem. The zultan was unsure about "the bear" but said he would take her if she were to be shaved. Haseya stood defiant against this, and Arshad took her into another room.

Here, Arshad attempted to shave Haseya, who still resisted. Arshad brought in Little Duck and Misae. He slit the throat of Little Duck as he calmly explained how he knew ursith were protective of wood elves. He then ripped open Misae's shirt, who was restrained and bound to a stretcher, and produced a whip. Haseya relented, agreeing to be shaved, but Arshad gave Misae one lash anyway.

As Arshad chopped a lock of Haseya's hair off, the door suddenly burst open, leaving Arshad splayed into Haseya's lap. Thinking quickly, Haseya used her powerful thighs to crush the man's head until she heard a crunch and his body went limp. The door had been opened by Narida, who stood free, bloodied and out of breath with a sack containing the belongings of all the women. She unrestrained the two women, and all three of them fled the palace, running into a rescue party made up of Tomren, Taegon, Arnold, Zafar, Eskandar, Moras, and a wood elven man who called himself "Standing Bear." The men questioned the women on what had happened, but none were in the mood to talk, so they walked in silence for several hours until arriving in Falconshrine, the headquarters of the church of Tes-Betat.

That night, the women were wracked by nightmares, and Taegon had a dream of another time and place.

Oathday, 12 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The party was awoken early by Eskandar and Zafar who led them aboveground to a graveyard. It was revealed that Eskandar's brother and Zafar's lover were one in the same— Javad il-Tavana. Zafar relayed his life story to the group, explaining how he and Javad became dissidents and joined the Butterfly, and how his father killed Javad during a slave revolt, and how Eskandar served as a sleeper agent working for the Lord of Servitude.

Although Eskandar had hoped this would clear the confusion between him and Misae, it only served to sour their relationship's potential as Misae did not appreciate the deception, regardless of how 'noble' it was, and furthermore felt insulted that she could not be trusted to keep secrets after the sacrifices and risks she had made in the name of the Butterfly.

More was learned about the mysterious Standing Bear as the day progressed. He was, in fact, the same slave who Haseya had stood up for in Samsandi, who had found his courage after that incident, killed his master, and fled to Falconshrine to become part of the army. He now considered himself Haseya's "sworn man," and said he would die to defend her. Moras also visited Haseya, and cut off part of his hair to show solidarity with his friend/crush.

Kamaria called a final council, wherein she declared it time for the final push and attack on Karna. The armies were assembled and ready to roll out. She suggested everyone take the evening to say whatever they needed to to whoever they needed to, as nobody could be sure what the morning would bring.

The day was filled with conversation, dialogue, and personal drama (NOTE: I'm bound to not remember everything—a lot happened here—so forgive me.) Misae and Moras bond a bit. Arnold resolves a dispute with his old band buddies and has one jam session before the big war. Tomren reassured the women that those who hurt them would die. Taegon and Misae have a moment that borders on romantic, but Taegon still doesn't seem to get the heavy hints that Misae is dropping. Arnold makes himself stupid with the rod of wonder. Haseya and Misae reflect on how far their journey has taken them, and how they never expected to wind up here. Moras asks Tomren for advice on women and receives nothing of value. Taegon receives a vision from Onaiwah that shows him as a warrior-king astride a white stag and leading an army of his own people. Moras visits Haseya, disturbed that she won't admit to her positive qualities. This interaction causes a transformation in Moras, and it is revealed that Moras has werewolf blood in him. He admits he is not Moras Graymoon, but in fact Moras Wolftongue, a noble of Ethova. He tells Haseya that he has control over his shape, and refuses to revert, saying he will stay a werewolf until Haseya admits she is beautiful.

Tomren and Krystof have one final drink and conversation full of backhanded compliments. Misae and Narida swear vengeance upon those who harmed them. Standing Bear asks to sleep in Haseya's quarters to be near her and sleeps on the floor. He undresses partially, completely flustering Haseya. Sebba comes to Arnold to hear songs of her homeland before the battle, but Arnold is too stupid to play music, so she leaves, disappointed. Zafar visits with Haseya and thanks her for everything she has been and done, and teases her about the half-naked, muscular wood elf in her room. Taegon helps to train the gyppa for a while as he is considered a "legendary dragon slayer" amongst them. Eskandar makes one final attempt with Misae that fails. Emanaya asks to sleep with Tomren—not for sex, but to be held. Tomren asks Emanaya if she wishes she could be free from the demon she is bound to. Emanaya explains she didn't tell Tomren everything so he could swoop in and save her. She is okay with her fate and just wants to do as much good as possible before that day comes. Tomren silently commits to slaying the demon, but doesn't say as much. Taegon is visited by his grandfather in the night, who has ominous plans for the future. Finally, Arnold and Narida have a discussion about where their relationship is headed, but Arnold is still too stupid to fully elucidate on his position, simply saying that they are "new" and implying that they have a lot to figure out about each other.

It all comes down to this.

Lorday, 13 Newbirth, 6935 EY: Before the battle, Moras is scolded by Haseya for strongarming her into believing something that she doesn't. Misae further reprimands Moras for being an "idiot," but agrees to help him get back into Haseya's good graces. After explaining himself to Haseya and apologizing, she cools considerably.

As troops are rallied and begin to move forward into battle, Zafar commands the armies and strengthens their morale with a speech. At the climax of his speech, he is interrupted by obnoxious buzzing noises coming from the frontlines—the Library of Sjet is ready for its visitors.

The Battle of Broken Chains progresses with many losses on both sides, but midway through the battle the tides begin to turn in a devastating way. Zafar, Haseya, Ga Jakadi, Taegon and the Shining Zultan prove to be invaluable assets, while Tomren's justicar prowess completely shut down an entire regiment of mages allowing for a swift victory to be secured. No major allies died, but many were wounded, including Eskandar losing an eye, Ga Jakadi losing a wing, and Kamaria and Standing Bear receiving ghastly scars.

The Pathseekers then infiltrated the Electrum Palace to deal a final blow to the zultanate. They are aided by Krystof, Emanaya and Moras to help defeat Spada Darice il-Kassem, who reveals herself to actually be Daratharna, an adult black dragon. This proves to be the most challenging fight of the day, with the group nearly not surviving it. In the end, it was Moras who slew the dragon, but was disappointed to find out the group was unconscious and did not witness it.

The group pushed on to find Melchoir, the Dervish Spada. They were accompanied by Ga Jakadi, Matilda Greenburrow, and Thunder. This battle ended quickly and poorly for the dervish spada, with Haseya administering the final blow via a scorpion stinger.

The next room held Zafar, Eskandar and Aya Darius recovering from an intense battle. The aya healed the group and then Zafar encouraged them to go on to the final encounter with the zultan.

The final encounter was anticlimactic. In this room they found the zultan along with Standing Bear, Kamaria, and Taeron, the Shining Zultan. Taeron wasted no time and destroyed the zultan in a single crippling blow, reducing the man to a pile of sand. Taeron teased the idea of taking the throne for himself, but eventually disappeared, saying he was "going home."

The battle was then won at last—the Butterfly had taken Bratana.

Arday, 14 Newbirth, 6935 EY – Ceremonies to commemorate the new zultana as well as awards occurred on this day. Kamaria was to be crowned the zultana, but she halted it, instead saying that Mitra deserved the crown. Mitra declined as well, but it was insisted upon her, and Mitra became the new zultana. The Pathseekers were granted noble titles as well as precious heirlooms from the vaults of the zultan to aid them in their future endeavors.

There was a party where Narida, Arnold, and B4P played celebration music and everyone danced and got drunk. Krystof lost a drinking contest to Matilda. Kamaria attempted to hook up with Taegon but was politely turned away. Eskandar was ignored completely and got annoyed by it. Standing Bear acted like a wallflower but chatted with Misae and explained that he was simply unused to people actually having fun, and he was having his own sort of fun just watching and admiring the fact that these people could smile for the first time. Taegon learned from Darius that there were many more battles to be fought to secure peace in Bratana as a resistance movement had already begun to form against the new zultana. Taegon suggested diplomacy over warfare. Taegon then spoke to Ga Jakadi, who had sobering news—while his troops helped in the Battle of Broken Chains, the Sand Circle attacked Karamezra and killed every gyppa there, and smashed every egg. Ga Jakadi needed calmed down as he blamed the Pathseekers for this, but once he was calmed the group made it clear the Sand Circle would pay. Haseya spoke to Moras about this. She became overwhelmed with emotion, and Moras held her as she expressed herself. Moras promised to speak with Archdruid Throg and that a tribunal would be held to deliver justice onto the Sand Circle.

Finally, Taegon and Misae danced together, and Misae finished it with a kiss on the cheek to Taegon. She explained that she "didn't want to be outdone" by Kamaria, and Taegon replied that, "she didn't need to kiss him to outdo Kamaria." Taken aback and embarassed, Misae quickly left. Narida, Arnold and Haseya converged on Taegon and Haseya let him know that Misae had feelings for him. Arnold and Narida both assurred Taegon that they had his back in this—although Arnold did it in his usual crass sort of way.

The group now plans on finally going to the Library of Sjet to find the answers they originally sought to find.

The Paths are Revealed

Truday, 15 Whitefall, 6935 EY – The group spent the day shopping for supplies in preparation to enter the Library of Sjet.

Norday, 16 Whitefall, 6935 EY – The group finally enters the Library of Sjet. Initially, they enter the tower only to find a plain, empty, undecorated room. After consulting with a scribe, however, they are instructed to gather in the center of the room. They are then lowered into a massive library with hundreds of millions of books, tomes, scrolls, and charts. The group begins desperately rifling through all the accumulated knowledge to find anything, but it quickly becomes apparent that the "good" stuff is going to be found on the lower levels called the Archives. The group enters the center of the library—called the Hub—and are lowered into the 696 levels of the Library of Sjet.

Venday, 17 Whitefall, 6935 EY - Oathday, 19 Whitefall, 6935 EY: Time was easy to lose in the depths of the library. Unsure of when it was night or day, the group slept when they were tired and searched the tomes while they were not. They found countless curiosities, including what appeared to be a grassland made of moldy books, a stray tenebra-mela expedition, and a forbidden section filled with unstable magical tomes. Throughout these adventures, the group each unearthed secrets about their own personal mysteries: Tomren learned of Augmar, the demon prince of night; he learned of Lot, the Grim Reaper and harbinger of death; and he learned of the Thollion Prophecies and how they predicted the death of magic. Taegon learned how to kill a mummy lord and a very small snippet about the mystic elves, called 'eladrin,' that pine for something known as "Firatuul." Arnold found a book detailing the exploits of a knight-turned-werewolf named Sir Jaremy. Haseya and Misae found an old Ethovan fairy tale that sounded a lot like what their village was enduring, and were horrified to learn that, if the same plague in the fairy tale was affecting them, that it would result in undead infants.

Eventually, the Pathseekers found a secret alcove. Here, they met Ilfrek Rhosenhart, a fugitive wizard from the violet towers who had abandoned his post when he got lost in the mysteries of the library. In particular, Ilfrek was taken by the rumors of a set of powerful artifacts called the Paths of Salvation. He was shocked to his core when he saw one of these very artifacts strapped to Misae's back. He was quick to show the group the Verse of Salvation and explain that these artifacts MUST be recovered, for Realm, the Empire of Man, is seeking them out as well. Ilfrek doesn't know what Realm wants with the Paths but believes that, should the Empire collect them, it may lead to cataclysmic results. The group offered to take Ilfrek with them, and he agreed, wishing to see where this mystery led.

On the way out, Haseya was magically separated from the group and wandered into the domain of Sjet, the owl-god of wisdom. Sjet introduced himself to Haseya, and explained that the world teetered on the brink of oblivion—a threat beyond the threats the Pathseekers would face, a threat in the future that threaten to swallow existence whole. Sjet believed that the Pathseekers had the power to nurture a contingency plan in case the worst happened. Of all of them, Haseya held the most nurturing power, and so Sjet granted Haseya a seed—a mysterious, giant acorn—and said to fall asleep with it near her and it would reveal its powers.

Haseya was returned to her companions, and they made their way to the hub to leave the Library. However, the elevator came to a grinding halt on floor 124—something had caused the mechanism to fail.

A new menace emerges; an old friend is lost.

Oathday, 19 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The group emerges from the broken elevator to find a derelict level of the library. As they wander to find the stairs that will lead them up to the surface, they see pillars of black smoke rising from a section of the library. They head to investigate and find Imperial soldiers burning down aisles of books with flamethrowers—many of these soldiers are armed with rifles, and some manner of priest is there, standing alongside a knight. The group's new friend, Ilfrek, becomes overtaken with rage, and runs forward, throwing violet lightning in the priest's direction. The knight absorbs this magical attack with their sword. The priest is furious, throwing derogatory words at Ilfrek and commanding the "Slayer" to seize them. As they run, Jadeflame is revealed on Misae's back. This causes the priest to begin frantically shouting to capture them. The "Slayer" then sprouts angelic wings and glowing armaments with floating golden scythes and begins to pursue the group through the library while firing bolts of radiant energy from their bastard sword. The group narrowly makes it to the stairs and begin to make their escape. As they make the rapid ascent, Krystof begins to falter and realizes he won't be able to make it. He can hear the soldiers behind the group. He uses telekinesis to thrust Taegon away from him to prevent him from stopping his last stand, then sends a clockwork owl to Tomren's side. He erects a wall of force and kills a dozen guards before at last his body is shattered and ruined by a hailstorm of bullets from the riflemen. Agonized, horrified, and heartbroken, the group escapes to the surface.

Before they even have a chance to mourn, the priest's voice can be heard all throughout Karna. He identifies himself as "Brother Justice" and asks all Imperial soldiers in Realm to be on the lookout for the Pathseekers, giving detailed descriptions of what they look like. The group begins to move quickly, but are found by Imperial riflemen and crossbowmen.

The group tries to flee, but bullets are fired and the situation looks grim. In the nick of time, an angelic being descends from the sky, reducing all of the Imperial soldiers to unconsciousness. This androgynous, green-skinned elven man is a form of angel called a planetar, sent by Tes-Betat himself at the pleas of Zafar Blackgrace. The angel explains that his contract limits him from intervening directly, but he can create a cover for them to escape the city. The planetar says to meet Zafar in "Zaramath to the north," where Zafar is waiting with some of their companions. The planetar then summons a sandstorm and a plague of locusts, which the group uses to flee the city of Karna.

Arday, 21 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The group continues their northward journey to Zaramath.

Truday, 22 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The group arrives in Zaramath, the Bratanan city of love. Here they investigate a destitute chapel to Tes-Betat. The priest there is suspicious when they mention Zafar, but after successfully answering test questions, the priest opens up, explaining that Zafar is waiting for them in the docks district and to look for a ship called the Jade Serpent. The group is reunited with Moras, Zafar, Standing Bear, Beasts for Peace, Narida and Sebba, as well as Ara Jakata, captain of the Jade Serpent. Everyone leaves but Zafar, bound for the Sarenulian port town of Yuhari.

Norday, 23 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The first day of travel is marked by torrential downpour and rocky waves. The captain encourages the group to remain below decks. Evening's dinner is pickled beets and breaded breast of chicken.

Venday, 24 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The rain stops this day, leaving the temperatures a crisp 50 degrees, but the storms take the winds with them, leaving the ship becalmed. Ara Jakata has a sorcerer on retainer, a yellowborn named Vance Waithman, who uses wind magic along with Haseya to move the ship at a snail's pace. Evening's dinner is roasted peppers with a filling of a mix of cheese and cheese rolls with a filling of nuts, honey and vegetables.

Taursday, 25 Newbirth, 6935 EY: Slightly warmer this day, and the rain begins to pour again. This is no storm, however, and the downpour comes with no rain. Still becalmed, the captain asks for any magical assistance again to help get the ship moving.

Haseya finds Ilfrek and Sebba sick and throwing up overboard. She learns Ilfrek is miserably seasick. Asking Sebba she learns that Sebba is used to boats and went sailing all the time back home, but she can't stand the sight of others getting sick so when she came over to help Ilfrek she got caught barfing with him. Haseya makes a calming tea for Ilfrek that helps ease his stomach.

Evening's dinner is prime roast sirloin and spinach mashed potatoes.

Oathday, 26 Newbirth, 6935 EY: Day four is a beautiful day weather-wise, with the high being 70 degrees, but again the wind is absolutely still. The boat moves but does so incredibly slowly, being propelled only by magical means. Nothing of interest happens on this day otherwise. Evening's dinner is braised oxtails with mushrooms.

Lorday, 27 Newbirth, 6935 EY: There is a light, pleasant rain on this morning, and the ship finally has a favorable wind. In the afternoon, the rain stops, leaving the temperature a pleasant 65 degrees. Narida and B4P strike upon the idea to have a dance party on the deck that evening to try to forget the troubles the group had just endured. Ara Jakata breaks out stores of alcohol and the ship's cook makes a feast of roast duck with apples, roast beef served with cranberry sauce, and a smoked salmon salad. Moras impresses Haseya by knowing how to dance thanks to his noble upbringing; Standing Bear dances with Haseya and is terrible at it but is able to laugh it off. Standing Bear also grows jealous of Moras and is scolded by Misae. Misae and Taegon dance, and finish with a kiss, which they then do again later in the evening. Arnold and Narida high five each other for mission accomplished.

Truday, 29 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The rain picks up some, up to a moderate shower, but not quite a storm. The wind is frustratingly sporadic, leaving the ship nearly becalmed. Around noon, an alarm bell is rung on the ship's deck, demanding all hands on deck. The group finds the ship has been overran with crawdring from the ocean depths. The session ends with the group steeling themselves to enter the fray.

The arrival in Sarenul

Truday, 29 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers find themselves fighting two eel hounds and a strange variation of crawdring that looks like a toad-shark with thick, rubbery skin and lanky limbs. While fighting, a shriek is heard from across the boat—another one of these lanky crawdring have grabbed Sebba and leapt from the deck with her. The other two druids and Standing Bear are quick to leap to action. Misae goes to their aid, helping to save Standing Bear's life from a shark. Taegon and Tomren nearly lay low the toad-shark humanoid, but it has unforeseen regenerative powers and rises from assumed death. Taegon is thrown overboard but rescued by Moras in the form of a dolphin. Eventually, everyone reboards the ship, including a rescued Sebba, and the group finishes off the eel hounds, although the toad-shark crawdrings escape. A headcount is done after and three people are missing, including the sorcerer Vance Waithman.

Norday, 30 Newbirth, 6935 EY: The rain becomes a raging storm, and everyone is advised to keep below decks. The storm brings with it much-needed winds, and the ship makes up lost ground, but the sailing is rough. The storm brings sickness and exhaustion to Misae and Ilfrek.

Venday, 31 Newbirth, 6935 EY: Winds are scarce again this day, but the weather is clear and the temperature is 70 degrees all day. Standing Bear has borrowed a fistful of fishing rods from the crew and challenges Arnold and Tomren specifically to a fishing contest, but says anyone is welcome to join, but he warns the druids that “doing your animal thing and jumping in the water is cheating. Taegon and Moras also join. Standing Bear wins the contest of most fish caught, but the biggest fish is tied between Moras and Standing Bear.

Taursday, 1 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: Another frustrating day of torrential downpour with trace amounts of wind. Heavy banks of fog roll in, leaving traveling to crawl at a snail's pace. Ara Jakata is undeterred and seems convinced the Serpent is nearing Sarenul. Evening's dinner is beef stew and corn on the cob.

Oathday, 2 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: A light smattering of rain this day as well as a healthy wind at last. Again around noon, the ship is suddenly picked up out of the water by a dragon turtle, who bellows a demand of who travels so close to the Sarenulian border and what do they seek. Ara Jakata apologizes profusely for not raising the tradesman's flag and shows the turtle both the flag and a seal. The mighty creature seems suspicious but allows the Jade Serpent passage to Yuhari.

Yuhari is a bustling but friendly port city. Spring seems to have arrived unnaturally early in Sarenul, with cherry blossoms blooming and green grass flourishing on the countryside beyond. The waters are sparkling and blue, the weather is perfect, and the people are friendly. For all intents and purposes, Sarenul seems idyllic, perhaps close to perfect.

Ilfrek and Tomren are taken to an administrative building to have their justicar credentials checked. Ilfrek is revealed to be a Collector-Loremaster, of which only 27 exist in the entire world. Tomren is told he is allowed within the boundaries of Sarenul and can conduct justicar business, but if he were to seek to apprehend "innocents" he would be hunted by the anti-justicars. While this was happening, Misae was wandering the open air market and was coerced into purchasing fabric in order to learn information about the Sixteen Tenets.

The Pathseekers found a street vendor selling bowls of noodles. They each purchased a bowl and sat to eat. While eating, they noticed a billboard surrounded by offerings. Upon approach, Arnold used comprehend language to read the Sarenulian and learned it was a billboard of hundreds of missing children. The group became concerned, reminded that this had been a recurring problem throughout their travels. They found lodging in the River of Life Inn and began asking around in the shantytowns about the apparent abductions. They were mostly met with indifference or hostility, but one man told them the belief is that an evil and angry spirit has been stealing away the children because of some perceived slight or aggression.

Lorday, 3 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The group travels to the city of Kai. On the way, they encounter a woman selling noodles out of a roadside wagon. She introduces herself as Li Chao, but the locals know her as the Noodle Lady. She also has a range of adventuring supplies to sell to the group. Li Chao rose Misae's suspicion when she noticed Jadeflame and began to ask about it. The Noodle Lady immediately recognized that she was making Misae uncomfortable and apologized, explaining that her husband had been an adventurer and that she collects curiosities that would appeal to adventurers and has always been charmed by the adventuring lifestyle and magical and wondrous items. She tries to refund Misae's money for making her uncomfortable, but Misae refuses.

Arday, 4 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The group arrives in Kai, which is somehow even more warm, friendly and inviting than Yuhari. Clearly a tourist town, Kai is built around the Tenet of indulgence. Spas, beauty parlors, manicurists, acupuncturists, and masseuses lines the streets here, as well as casinoes and even sanctioned brothels. The group is approached by a monk named Gu Shi who convinces the women they deserve a day at the spa. Taegon generously pays for them all to have a day of relaxation. Tomren attends a Sarenulian opera and finds the performance quite good. The group find lodging in The Coral Spire Inn and settle in for the evening.

Truday, 5 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The session ended early this morning, as the women prepared for their day at the spa and Tomren received a new justicar contract.

The girls take a day off; the boys fight a tower of madness; they both deal with drama in the evening.

Truday, 5 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The girls show up to the temple of indulgence at 10 am while the boys set out to find the tower where Kafka the Mad resides.

The girls enjoyed a mostly peaceful and relaxing day, although Narida did overstep her boundaries and brought up sensitive topics with Haseya and Misae. Narida later tried to help Haseya by telling her to remember to live her life, and to try to move forward from the past that hurt her.

The boys, meanwhile, found the tower and discovered the entire thing had been transformed into a horrific, singular organism through otherworldly magic. After fighting denizens of far-flung planes from beyond the vision of mortal reality, they ascended to the top where they fought and defeated Kafka the Crazy and destroyed the statues that gave him his eldritch power. Tomren took from this place the bones necessary to animate and create sharkjaw skeletal minions.

That evening, Arnold foolishly used the rod of wonder which caused his legs to fuse together, completely killing Narida's desire to be intimate with him. Arnold and Tomren went to get this issue fixed. Moras was taken aback by Haseya's beauty after her spa day and was unable to communicate with her; Standing Bear, on the other hand, was direct with his intentions, telling Haseya she was "hot" and then inviting her into his room for the evening. Haseya declined, and Standing Bear apologized for being so forward.

After Arnold had spent a good deal of his and Tomren's money, the curse was lifted and he rushed back to the inn to be with Narida. Narida told him to give her a moment but he played assertive and demanded her sexual attention, forgetting that she had survived a horrific rape experience not a month ago. Disgusted and hurt, Narida left Arnold alone as he realized his mistake.

Misae and Taegon went on their first official date together, choosing to go to a Sarenulian opera. Misae chose to see "The Eagle's Fall." It ended up being a war drama that had Taegon fully engaged but Misae fell asleep in the middle of it. Meanwhile, Tomren enjoyed the city night life of Kai, cruising through casinoes and enjoying the sights and sounds of the city of indulgence.

Back at the inn, Haseya was wrestling with a decision to take up Standing Bear on his offer. She opened her doorway, throwing the thought back and forth, when she heard the sounds of lovemaking from Standing Bear's room. Her emotional walls fully back up, Haseya shut her door and went to sleep.

Welcome to the City-on-the-Mountain.

Norday, 6 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The group leaves Kai, discussing the drama of the night before in isolated groups. Misae and Standing Bear have a verbal confrontation in the stables, and the ride to Illias is awkward. Haseya notices a strange figure watching them from the rice fields. When she alerts her companions, the figure is gone. The group stops for the evening and rests—during this time, Standing Bear confronts Misae again, and it elevates to an argument again, with Standing Bear threatening to leave. Tomren talks Standing Bear down, and he agrees to stay with the group.

Venday, 7 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: In the morning, the group finds an overturned cart and a strange bear-like creature; a yaoguai. The yaoguai attacks the group, who defeat the creature. They discover the mutilated remains of Li Chao, the Noodle Lady, and give her a proper burial.

The group arrives in Illias late in the morning and are taken in by its splendor, gazing in awe at the golden castle in the clouds hovering above the sacred mountain. The mountain is ringed by walls, and it takes several hours of traveling through the farmlands at the foothills to reach the first city district of Illias. It is crowded and dirty, but the group eventually pushes on to the next district, where they encounter a yellow dragon entertaining a crowd. This dragon is quick to laughter, friendly, and gives everyone souvenir scales with their names engraved on them. The dragon also inadvertently terrifies Haseya for wearing dragon scale mail, although he meant it as a joke.

Around evening, the group begins discussing stopping for the night and finding an inn. The smell of food attracts them to a cart selling meat and noodle dishes. There, a young samurai argues with the woman who runs the cart—he apparently does not have the money to cover his bill. Tomren fronts him the cash, and the samurai thanks Tomren with a bit of advice—to be careful in Illias, and to know that even now they are being watched.

Is something sinister afoot at the Crown of the World?

Venday, 7 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: At Tomren's encouragement, the group spends a night out having fun. Moras had found a flier that Arnold translated for him for a food and "fireworkers" festival. Tomren, Taegon, Moras, Misae and Haseya attended this festival, enjoying foods from around the world and entertaining the citizens of Illias by turning into animals. Meanwhile, Arnold and Narida spent the evening enjoying the night life, dancing, playing music, and getting drunk. Standing Bear went to a "dragon fight" where he made a great deal of money. Ilfrek chose to go to a used book store, and Sebba walked through one of the parks in the district, and attended a haiku reading there.

Taursday, 8 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: Refreshed from their exploits, the group continues up the mountain. In the next district, they are approached by a young woman who says she is a handmaiden for Sun Wei, She Who Sleeps, an oracle in the area who has been waiting for the group. The group agrees to see this oracle, who gives them all very cryptic foretellings. She ends this meeting with an enigmatic, almost terrifying vision and prophecy that only the five Pathseekers could see and hear.

A little shaken but undeterred, the group continues up the mountain. The atmosphere begins to thin and the horses begin to slow. The group passes through several more districts until finally reaching snowy frozen slopes. The harsh extremeties cause Misae's horse to submit to the weather and die. Frozen at the top of the world, the group finally arrives at a wall made of ice. The wall is opened and they are permitted inside.

On the other side of the wall is paradise. Here, the magic of the dragons has created a fertile valley at the foot of the summit of Mount Jaw-Long Xie. This shangrila is populated by the wealthiest and most elite of the residents of Illias.

The group is met by a woman named Li Cai who introduces herself as an ambassador of the Dragon Emperor himself. She has been instructed to escort them to a manor that has been set aside for the "heroes of Bratana" while they wait for an audience with the Dragon Emperor—which, according to Li Cai, will take approximately six months.

The group is immediately set ill at ease by the surroundings in the manor. Although every one of their needs is seen to and all their desire fulfilled, they can never be without an escort "for their safety." Additionally, it is made abundantly clear that the government of Sarenul knows a great deal about the group—including such fine of details as Misae's parentage and Taegon's homeland.

While part of the group is oblivious to a perceived danger and part of the group works quietly to subvert the situation, Misae is openly hostile to the situation at hand, causing the staff in the manor to place sturdier guard over her. Taegon is able to talk the matron of the house into allowing him to spend the night in Misae's room, allowing the couple a bit of privacy. Tomren, meanwhile, tests the limits of the staff's ability, and consorts with Ilfrek to formulate a plan in secrecy. Ilfrek gives Tomren a book, suggesting he read the chapter on pegasi. When Tomren opens the book, he finds a note— "We Are In Trouble."

An old name; a new friend.

Lorday, 10 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The group decides to spend the day checking out Zhongtou District. Before they head out, Li Cai suggests they freshen up. When Misae goes to do so, she is abducted by the Mei Jeimei, the secret agents of Illias, and is replaced by a shapeshifting dragon doppelganger. The group is unaware of the change, even Haseya, for the dragon's talents are second to none.

The group visits a museum about the Ophan War—although Tomren had hoped to learn more about "the fall of Realm," the museum dedicated to it wasn't open yet, according to Li Cai.

Meanwhile, Misae was being interrogated by the Mei Jeimei. They used magic to modify her memory, transforming her from her usual rebellious self into a submissive fan of the dragon emperor who believed that Realm had been destroyed.

When the group returned to the manor, the Mei Jeimei agents switched Misae with the impostor, granting her the memories of the day's events. When the brainwashed Misae met with the rest of the group, they were immediately put off by her, but could not pinpoint what had happened to her.

Tomren and Ilfrek endured an agonizingly long lecture about the origins of the country of Sarenul in the hopes of eventually learning about the fall of Realm. Ilfrek sent Tomren a secret message that said they are wasting time and need to find a way to free themselves of the watchful eyes of their attendants. Ilfrek had a plan and aimed to initiate it the following day.

Arday, 11 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: Although the group had plans to meet dragons this day, Tomren changed plans at the last second to get the group out of the house. The plan was to travel to one of the art galleries. On the way there, Ilfrek created an illusory nightmare that charged the group. In the panic and confusion, the group bolted away from their escorts, who immediately took chase. The large men who served as bodyguards shifted into dragons and began to hunt the group down.

The group ducked and weaved through Zhongtou District, staying under cover to avoid the dragons. They ducked into a covered alleyway only to be ambushed by Mei Jeimei agents, who quickly demonstrated powers beyond what the group had. They were nearly captured, but the battle was interrupted by the samurai they had fed days before. The Mei Jeimei agents scattered when he arrived, and he helped Misae gather her unconscious allies onto his hulking heibai, a creature he called Nobu. The young man introduced himself as Shiro Bo Fu, and explained that the Mei Jeimei are afraid of his name. He knows the group is looking to speak with the Dragon Emperor, and Shiro wishes to speak with him too.

Shiro hurried the group away to a secret place, where he explained his plan to steal wyverns from the Crown of the World and fly up to the Heavenly Palace. He explained they could either go through the monster-infested sewers or risk traveling in the open with the Mei Jeimei looking for them. They decided to try traveling aboveground, but Shiro warned they needed to move quickly before the Mei Jeimei warned the wall guards about them.

An infiltration of the world's greatest palace.

Arday, 11 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers successfully infiltrate the Crown of the World. They debate how they are going to infiltrate the wyvern compound until ultimately deciding that a direct break-in is the quickest route. During this frontal assault, using Nobu as a battering ram, Misae fell from the great bear and was dragged behind it. The group quickly made their way inside, hijacking wyverns, which Taegon had difficulty controlling, but Tomren displayed a natural talent with. As they flew upward to the Heavenly Palace, they noticed they were being pursued by Mei Jeimei agents and wyvern riders. The Mei Jeimei were able to hit Misae with tranquilizing needles, knocking her unconscious, which slumped her off of the wyvern, but she was caught midair by the intelligent beast.

Upon arriving at the Heavenly Palace, the group was attacked by Mei Jeimei agents, wyvern riders, and two adult dragons. Before the dragons could lay ruin and devastation upon the group, two individuals arrived; Zhou Dong, the Tiger General, and Li Chao, the minister of Ilias and leader of the Mei Jeimei, who was also the noodle lady supposed dead days before.

After some brief confusion, Shiro was able to talk Zhou Dong into permitting an audience with Dragon Emperor Fang Peng Roc. After a very tense discussion, one of Fang Peng Roc's draconic allies—daughter of Fothratarth, Isrutarth—cast restorative spells on Misae and Zhou Dong, granting them their memories back and revealing Li Chao's deception. Fang Peng Roc exiled Li Chao, but Li Chao took the entirety of the Mei Jeimei with her. Both the korthadrak and the uthadrak left Sarenul temporarily to report to the Dracocouncil in the north.

Fang Peng Roc felt humiliation instead of gratitude after these events. He claimed the Pathseekers had dishonored him, and refused them the help they asked. He said if they wished for help, they would need to help one of his daimyos, a corvo named Hiroshi Shizuma, who had been asking for help to reclaim his ancestral home of Shizuma Castle in Okura. The group agreed, said goodbye to Shiro Bo Fu and Nobu, and were escorted to the base of the mountain.

Truday, 12 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: After traveling the hilly countryside, the group arrived in Ikochumi, an industrious city. Ahiga began acting very strangely here, biting and growling and being a general nuisance. While Haseya tried to figure things out, the rest of the group went to a museum at Tomren's behest. When they returned, they learned Ahiga was going through "growing pains." Taegon remarked that he thought Ahiga was fully grown—Haseya said that "so did she."

The group continued traveling, refusing to stay in town because of the impoliteness of their innkeeper.

Norday, 13 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: A day of travel passes by without incident.

Venday, 14 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The group arrives in Anzamuri, a busy market town. Narida and Arnold are charged with finding out information about Okura while the others find an inn. When the two return, they explain that Okura is primarily corvo and has been evacuated in recent days because of the incident with intruders in Shizuma Castle. It is assumed the intruders are affiliated with the empire of Realm, and many strange mercenaries have been hired to help shore up its defenses.

Taursday, 15 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: A day of travel passes by without incident.

Oathday, 16 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: A day of travel passes by without incident.

Lorday, 17 Earlydawn, 6935 EY; The Day of the Dragons: The Pathseekers arrive in Okura. They find their rendezvous point, an inn called the Double Dragons, amongst the empty and desolate city. Here, they find a whiskey-swilling grizzled old cowboy named Merle Gunnarson. Merle explains that he and two others are hired hands by Hiroshi Shizuma. The other two are Lily Oxford, a bubbly little halfron, and none other than Chumani of Sipaku, Haseya's mentor and dear friend. The two are astonished to see each other here, and Chumani says that she believes her daughter, Fala, may have survived the Razing of the Graywald and her hunt has led her here. The three mercenaries begin bickering, which is interrupted by an arrow in the wall and the sudden arrival of the noble Hiroshi Shizuma, who tells the group a legend his father told him about two warring dragons. He says that he walked the world for many years and has now returned to his home only to find it overran by Imperial scum, and begs for everyone's help. Lily smiles sheepishly and replies, "The world could always use more heroes."

The Battle For A Base Begins

Arday, 18 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers lay siege to Shizuma Castle with the aid of Hiroshi Shizuma, Lily Oxford, Merle Gunnarson, and Chumani of Sipaku. While fighting in the streets of Okura, they battled Noir the sniper, Mack Jorrison the soldier, Sir Roland the paladin, and Lanio, the avar bard. They ended up recruiting Sir Roland, who seemed to know Chumani from a previous organization, and they spoke vaguely of mutual friends who were either "ruling, disappeared, or dead."

In the Temple of the Tenets, the group fought against Thurston, a giant and angry hylo; ZY-TA, a strange man made of metal; Barik Blastbarrel, a dwarven elementalist; and Fala of Sipaku, Chumani's daughter who had been brainwashed by the empire and given a rocket launcher and jetpack. Fala was eventually saved by her mother, and helped the group continue their attack inward.

In Shizuma Castle courtyard, the group faced off against the goblin Duva in a mechanical suit; Dum'Gar of Clan Ferrag, a vicious thragg'ar with a legendary punch; Xue Nushi, a Sarenulian cryomancer; Orisos, a centaur druid from Casturas; and Sonora, an Ordovan spy and manipulator. This proved to be the group's hardest challenge, but won it in the end, and recruited Dum'Gar in the process, who was wooed by the groups' strength.

In Shizuma Castle itself, the group fought against a shadowy figure called Grim; an unhinged vulpini named Havoc; a silent but gruesome ogre named The Hook; and an arrogant Mercenary woman named Perfectra. This battle went very quickly, and they spared Havoc, who joined them for unknown reasons.

In Shizuma Castle Throne Room, the group came face to face with Hiroshi's brother, thought dead—Godo Shizuma. Godo had been horribly mutilated, but saved with Imperial technology, turned into a cyborg ninja. He was accompanied by Child Mercy, a member of the Valorous Family; BS-T0N, an Imperial mech; and Zorya, a hardened dwarven general. This battle was won quickly thanks to the group's efforts and Hiroshi unleashing his spirit dragon powers on his brother.

In the end, the Shizuma brothers were reunited, and agreed to travel the world together, to see what it had become and to learn from each other. As thanks for restoring the castle, they agreed to relinquish the rights of it to the Pathseekers, that they may use it for safe harbor.

What followed was a month of reconstruction, building and development of Shizuma Castle. Taegon grew very restless during this period, anxious to follow the warnings given to him in dreams.

Taursday, 22 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: Shiro Bo Fu and Nobu arrive in Okura and lend their assistance to the Pathseekers, confident that their travels will eventually lead them to Shiro's grandfather.

Taursday, 29 Earlydawn, 6935 EY: Katja Kraus arrives from Molentius, claiming she had been sent by visions of her grandfather's spirit. Katja seemed more grown up, more ready, and said that Krystof had told her she had a great destiny in helping the Pathseekers.

Truday, 2 Greenleaf, 6935 EY: "Jungle" Jym Lestoy showed up on grounds, only now going by the name "Judo" Jym Lestoy. He asked to set up a shop in the castle. Misae was reluctant to trust him, but eventually relented, and Jym joined the group's growing entourage.

Arday, 8 Greenleaf, 6935 EY: Adlyth Bronarth and Herod Eswald, the two young lovers from Dunezar, arrived in Okura with the promised pteranodons—eight of them in total. The Pathseekers each chose a personal mount from this clutch and Adlyth and Herod agreed to stay in Sarenul to help oversee their care and needs. Today is also Haseya's 54th birthday.

Oathday, 13 Greenleaf, 6935 EY: Beasts for Peace arrive in Okura, having heard the news of the Pathseekers building a base. They have decided to finally settle down and want to make Shizuma Castle their venue. The group agrees.

Norday, 17 Greenleaf, 6935 EY: Moras returns from a secret mission accompanied by Haseya's mother, Manaba; her father, Sani; and her sister, Doli. Sani helps Haseya build a druid grove out of bonsai and bamboo, which Sebba asks if she can guard. Moras also brings with him Telokete, MIsae's father, who makes intimidating remarks toward Tomren and grills Taegon, mentioning a group called the "windspeakers" who looked like Taegon, piquing his curiosity.

Venday, 18 Greenleaf, 6935 EY: The family members return to Sipaku. At the end of this day, a final old face reveals itself: Zafar za-Farahani, worn and beaten from travel, arrives in Shizuma Castle with these words on his lips: "It sounds like we have work to do."

The Pathseekers discover an ancient secret.

Taursday, 19 Greenleaf, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers meet with their advisors and are introduced to the war table, from where they can issue their followers and allies to complete different goals and objectives. For purposes of brevity, the details of these missions will not be outlined in adventure log posts, except where they touch upon or impact the plot of the story.

After delegating tasks to their allies, the Pathseekers decide that returning to Taegon's homeland of Elm Shaeras on the continent of Utar is the high priority. Using their newly-acquired flying mounts, the group sets off for the port city of Itaro.

Taursday, 2 Rosefield, 6935 EY: After four days of travel, the group arrives in Itaro, one of Sarenul's largest port cities. The Pathseekers decide from here to take a ship directly to Amberdeen, the capital of Utar, in lieu of flying their mounts there, which would require them to make stops in the Olvani island chain, which is infamous for its rough-and-tumble pirate population.

Oathday, 24 Rosefield, 6935 EY: The journey to Utar is long and grueling. The Pathseekers spend nearly a month at sea with very little to occupy themselves. The crew they hired are former military and are professional and polite but curt and straight-laced. On the 24th of Rosefield, the ship arrives in Lion's Mouth Bay, but the Pathseekers are disheartened to see Amberdeen in flames.

Quickly, the Pathseekers took the ship's tender to shore, where they found strange, dragonlike humanoids patrolling the burning city streets alongside red-skinned men and women with flame for hairs. These creatures brooked no passage and bandied no words, but instead attacked the Pathseekers, who bested them in battle. Tomren guessed at their species as dragonborn and igna genasi—creatures that were thought to be long extinct.

A trader Taegon recognized emerged from the rubble where he was hiding to explain that the creatures appeared and attacked without warning. He told Taegon they were led by a bronze-skinned elf and that they were headed for Elm Shaeras.

Lorday, 25 Rosefield, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers arrive in Elm Shaeras to find the village shattered and its population decimated. Judging by the number of bodies, Taegon deduces that not everyone is dead. He rushes to his parents' home and finds it empty, with signs of struggle. While rushing to Berilar's home, he encounters the man in the city square—the last surviving mystic elf in Elm Shaeras. Berilar explains that he knows they need to follow these creatures, and that the answers they have sought for so long exist "beyond the storms."

The Pathseekers hijack a biomechanical whale-ship and haphazardly pilot it under the water, moving at breakneck speeds that eventually overload the ship and their biology, leaving them beached, shipwrecked, and at the edge of death.

Norday, 28 Rosefield, 6935 EY: The group awakens in a strange new land being tended to by a strange race of people who appear to be human but have strange, bestial qualities to them. There is no shared language, but the creatures seem to be working diligently to heal the Pathseekers.

The days that followed were days of recovery. Eventually, the Pathseekers were introduced to a porcupine-man who introduced himself as Vettorio Barbamachollo. Vettorio explains that the group is in a city called Belaguardia, in the nation of Casalini, on the continent of Goranth. None of these words or places sound familiar to anyone, not even Tomren, who has studied geography more extensively than the others, or Arnold, who knows a thousand songs and stories.

Arday, 2 Greysky, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers are led to the Council of Four, the individuals who oversee trade and administration in Belaguardia. They are accompanied by a panel of experts and scientists who begin asking the Pathseekers a variety of questions regarding what they call the "Otherlands" or the "lands beyond the storms." They seem keenly interested in what they call the Flaming Scale Horde.

After these questions, it is determined that the Pathseekers do not pose a threat and are allowed to travel as they please, as long as Vettorio accompanies them. They immediately seek travel to Virandis to find Berilar and the eladrin.

Upon arriving in Virandis via teleportation (another surprise to the well-learned Tomren,) they find Meren Shaeras, the capital of Virandis and the home of the eladrin. This enormous tree is populated by thousands of eladrin—more than Taegon has ever seen—and he recognzies none of them but one: Berilar. Berilar escorts them through Meren Shaeras, saying that it's "time to meet Her."

Indeed, Taegon finally comes face to face with his goddess—Tarathiel, the Lady of Light. Taegon is taken aback to learn that Tarathiel is in fact just an eladrin woman named Nadia du Fey who insists on not being called Tarathiel. She is accompanied by many incredibly powerful allies, and tells a story of how they have traveled from another world and sought refuge on Pryme. She also knows the group is searching for the Paths of Salvation and has sensed the presence of one in the country of Paribaia. Nadia can offer teleportation to Paribaia but warns it's a one-way trip. Additionally, she requests that the group take with them a strange individual who is of both dragonborn and aasimar blood—a quiet and lithe cleric named Phala. Nadia explains that Phala doesn't have a place in Goranth and is seeking his place in the world. Having a cleric can be a valuable asset to an adventuring group, and the Pathseekers welcome Phala along in their journies.

Truday, 3 Greysky, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers travel through the one-way portal to Paribaia. They arrive in what looks like a ruined temple made of metal. There are strange metal cables and wires hanging from the ceiling like synthetic vines, and a great fallen pillar of metal and stone separates them from the outside world. They can hear a tinny voice from outside calling into the temple. When they respond, they hear the flare of electricity, and a creature made of stone, wood and metal appears before them—a strange automaton shaped in the image of a man and carrying an electrified quarterstaff. The creature seems ready to engage and kill the Pathseekers until he sees Tomren—at which point he drops his weapon and begins to worship him.

A strange new world.

Norday, 4 Greysky, 6935 EY: The two artificial creatures, which introduce themselves as Tumbleweed and Arbitrary, offer to give Tomren and his companions a ride to "Sanctuary." They power up a futuristic vehicle that moves at speeds thought impossible by the group previously. The rest of the day is spent in travel.

Venday, 5 Greysky, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers arrive in Sanctuary, a dilapidated and ruined futuristic city now inhabited by these robotic creatures. They are taken immediately to the "executors," who turn out being the same type of creatures only their heads have been replaced by preserved human heads in jars. These executors, named Pinch, Best, and Balcony, welcomed Tomren, but questioned him on many of the secrets of the Makers. These were clearly questions Tomren didn't have answers to, but he was successfully able to buy time by hopping on the Tomb of the Makers when it was mentioned, and the executors agreed to allow him and his companions to explore it.

Within the Tomb of the Makers, the Pathseekers found many holographic projections by the hierophants of ages past that spoke the history of the warforged and how long they have waited for humans to return to Paribaia. The group also discovered tanks containing partially-preserved remains of long-dead humans. They surmised that these tanks once held people either in stasis or dead bodies in preservation, but the power source had long ago failed.

Eventually, after fighting a variety of guardians and sentinels, the group discovered something surprising—a simulacrum of Taeron Stareyes, the Shining Zultan. Taegon's grandfather had claimed Lexarfel, the Path of Salvation, and was in charge of the Flaming Scale Horde. Taeron also claimed to have killed the inhabitants of Elm Shaeras, including Taegon's mother, and forced the group to fight their skeletal remains.

Oathday, 7 Greysky, 6935 EY: The group emerged from the Tomb with more questions than answers, and Tomren had to return to the executors empty-handed. Executor Balcony declared Tomren a 'false Maker' and called for his execution, and Executor Best was inclined to agree. Executor Pinch talked the men down and the three agreed to allow the group to flee in exile.

On their way out, they were approached by Tumbleweed, who made the point that they had no way of returning home. He had an idea and asked them to wait for him. The group agreed, and Tumbleweed showed up with a massive power core and refused to answer questions. He swiftly drove them back to the teleportation shrine, when Haseya noticed that there were warforged pursuing them. As they arrived at the shrine, Tumbleweed begged everyone to go inside as he and Arbitrary plugged in the power core.

Before Tumbleweed and Arbitrary could do so, however, the executors and warforged army caught up with them. As the executors called for the death of the intruders, the warforged slowly began to disobey the orders of the executors, siding instead with the Pathseekers, claiming that Tomren may not have been what they were expecting out of the Makers, but he was a Maker nonetheless, and they would stand with the Makers. The executors and their few loyal units made a quick retreat, and the several hundred warforged that remained behind pledged their service to Tomren and the Pathseekers.

As the group used the teleporter to return back to Meren Shaeras, Nadia was horrified to see the number of bodies coming through the portal at once. This manner of teleportation magic was unsuitable for such large numbers, and it caused a massive explosion that killed a great number of the warforged. Those who remained made Tumbleweed and Arbitrary their leaders, and swore to return to the Makers' Realm.

The Pathseekers spoke to Nadia about the Flaming Scale Horde marching on Casalini, but it was evident she already knew, as she was rousing and rallying her troops. She told the Pathseekers she feared that the might of the eladrin and the shifters wouldn't be enough to stand against the fire genasi and the dragonborn. The aasimar were too lofty and arrogant to come down from on high to help and the genasi would not fight their brethren, so she suggested the Pathseekers help by turning to one of the other potential allies: the goliath of Agravaya, the tiefling of Xylenthine, or the apocra of Virandis. The group agreed to split up to maximize their potential of recruiting allies. Tomren and Phala went to Kel'Shangra, the capital of Agravaya, to meet with the goliath; Arnold and Misae went to Kalanda, capital of Xylenthine, to meet with the tiefling; and Tomren and Haseya went to Alsoon, a nearby apocran settlement, to speak with the waspfolk.

Home sweet home

[Editor's note: Several pages were missing from Master Freuenberger's journal here. A few remained intact but were so stained with a mixture of what appeared to be ale and vomit that they were rendered unreadable. The contents of this portion of the journal have sadly been lost to what must have been a night of intense carousing. However, from what we can glean, the Pathseekers forged an alliance of the peoples of Goranth and stood against the armies of the dragonborn and the fire genasi and came out the victors.]

Oathday, 14 Greysky, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers are magically teleported back to Novus via the powers of Nadia DuFey. They take along with them Eskandar za-Tavana, Tumbleweed, Arbitrary, Gakpit, Vettorio Barbamachollo, Kundang of the Cloth, and Coventina Cherryblossom, as well as a sizable contingency of warforged. Most are happy to see them returned as they feared them dead. Chumani insists on a full check-up, and Zafar requests a report. Narida finally confesses to Arnold her infidelity with Standing Bear, which Arnold seems unphased by. Narida remains insistent that they maintain an open relationship, feeling unworthy of Arnold's dedication.

Lorday, 15 Greysky, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers begin to plan their next move. They learn that the Green Circle is ready to conduct the Tribunal on the Sand Circle and decide that is their next move. A number of missions are available for investigation in Callandria, and the group wishes to have them explored, but many of the individuals they rely on are absent from Shizuma Castle, searching the world for where the Pathseekers had gone. After some discussion, the Pathseekers agree to wait a few days for these individuals to return.

Arday, 16 Greysky, 6935 EY: Misae receives a letter from Telokete explaining the nature of Nicnevin, the Oiche Baugh, and how she should not use the title Oiche Baugh as it alerts the fey creature every time it is uttered. Misae is then talked into traveling to Belaguardia via Nadia's teleporter to find shark jaw bones with Tomren. Misae and Tomren discover a shope called "Niska's Curiosities," which is filled with bones and necromantic items. Niska himself is a very creepy tiefling with a perverse obsession with the undead—Tomren quickly purchases his shark bones and leaves.

Truday, 17 Greysky, 6935 EY: Haseya is abruptly visited by Archdruid Throg of the Green Circle, who tree strides directly into her grove. He growls about not wanting to wait two and a half weeks and gives her a tree stride scroll specifically attuned for Moras. He tells her she can take her time, but not to take TOO long. Haseya sheepishly apologizes and takes the scroll. After discussing it with her allies, they agree to wait three more days.

Venday, 19 Greysky, 6935 EY: Although the day prior passed uneventfully, Fala of Sipaku returned to the castle on this day. She was happy to see the group and was amused by the name similarities between her and Phala.

Taursday, 20 Greysky, 6935 EY: No longer comfortable with keeping the Archdruid waiting, the group decides to use the tree stride spell to travel to Bratana. Zafar, Eskandar, Sebba, and Moras accompany them on their travel, as well as Beasts for Peace, Chumani of Sipaku, and Berilar, who have business in the southern reaches of the neighboring nation of Dalorene. The Pathseekers now await the beginning of the Tribunal of the Sand Circle.

The Pathseekers visit the Kingdom of the Sun.

Taursday, 20 Greysky, 6935 EY: The Sand Circle Tribunal. Archdruid Throg, along with Lyra Sprig and Asante of Clan Kima, assembled to serve as the tribunal who would judge Daphissa Beestinger for her actions. After hearing testimony from the sand circle archdruid and an impassioned speech by Haseya, Throg made his judgment clear: a trial by combat to determine who was fit by "natural selection." Throg then fought Daphissa in a combat that lasted approximately six seconds, wherein Daphissa was killed by a single flame strike and rhino charge. Throg then appointed Sebba Kurtbach as the new archdruid, but she declined the honor, explaining she had sworn an oath to watch the grove at Shizuma Castle. The collected druids then voted on a new archdruid and decided on Sift il-Abreen, who said she was committed to maintaining the old sand circle traditions, but taking it in a less zealous direction than her predeccesor had.

Oathday, 21 Greysky, 6935 EY: After traveling to and staying the night at the Pahlavi farmstead, the Pathseekers had breakfast with Abbas and Osra al-Pahlavi, the old goat-herding couple with whom they had become friends. Abbas told the group of Farzad za-Qaedi, a renegade noble who has proclaimed himself the "zultan of the sun" and instigated a full-blown civil war in Bratana to rebel against Zultana Mitra sha-Najafi and her new policies giving equality to women and abolishing slavery. Abbas also knew about the efreeti visiting people on the roads, saying that the claims were that they only approached those who looked rich and powerful. With help from Arnold, and being sure to brandish what artifacts they had recovered, the group took to the road to Karna. Three hours outside the great city they were intercepted by a pair of efreeti who invited them to the Interdimensional Tournament in the City of Brass, hosted by a fire elemental noble named Lady Kaxaga the Everburning, said to be the niece of the Grand Sultana of the City of Brass. The efreeti did not give the group a means to travel to the City of Brass and this was filed under "future problems."

Lorday, 22 Greysky, 6935 EY: The group met with Zultana Mitra sha-Najafi, Zafar, Eskandar, and Narida, and discussed the current sociopolitical environment in Bratana. While there, they received a magical message from Berilar requesting their presence in the Dalorenian city of Garnet, as things had apparently become more complicated there. Although the group offered their assistance with dealing with za-Qaedi and his men, the sun elves were insistent that this was a problem they needed to handle themselves. Zafar and Eskandar stayed with the zultana, while Narida traveled with the group to Garnet. That evening, on the shores of the salty Sea of Meshidyas, the Pathseekers had a rare opportunity to unwind and went swimming, played water games, and rode on Haseya's back as she beast-shaped into a plesiosaur.

Arday, 23 Greysky, 6935 EY: The Pathseekers continued westward, toward the nation of Dalorene. A few hours outside of the city of Khariib, Haseya received a magical message from Sir Roland stating that the Dragon Emperor Fang Peng Roc had ordered them to assist with a battle that had broken out at the Dragonsguard—that the Empire of Man had breached the great wall at last and the soldiers of Sarenul were making a stand. Frustrated and worried, the group decided to continue on to Dalorene for now, resolving to find a way to return home as soon as possible.

While in Khariib, the Pathseekers saw the handiwork of za-Qaedi's men in three women, ostensibly former slaves, who had been beaten and executed and now hung from a makeshift gallows in the center of town. It took both Misae and Haseya to calm down Narida, and the group made their way out of the city as hastily as possible.

While on the road to Za Hajar and Dalorene beyond, the Pathseekers passed by a fellow traveler. To Misae's shock, it appeared to be her dead mother, Otekah. This shock lasted only for a moment, as Misae was quick to identify the individual as Ruzazel, the demon who had been stalking the Pathseekers from afar. Taegon used his divine sense to confirm this, and Ruzazel dropped his guise, launching an attack on the Pathseekers.